REFERENCE DbPAiams«*
CALIFORNIANA ANNEX
SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1223 90150 9977
Accession
979.435 D375
251019
NOT TO BE TAKEN FROM THE LIBRARY
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2011 with funding from
California State Library Califa/LSTA Grant
http://www.archive.org/details/historyofyubasutOOdela
HISTORY OF
YUBA and SUTTER
COUNTIES
CALIFORNIA
WITH
Biographical Sketches
OF
The Leading Men and Women of the Counties Who Have Been
Identified with Their Growth and Development
from the Early Days to the Present
HISTORY BY
PETER J. DELAY
ILLUSTRATED
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME
HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA ;
192+
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
HISTORICAL SECTION
Portrait, Peter J. Delay page 34
D Street, Marysville, in 1923 page 48
Marysville's First Fire, 18S1 page 132
Marysville in 1854 page 132
Portrait, Mary Murphy Covillaud page 136
Company C, Champion Marksmen page 196
Benny Lynch and General Sutter's Gun page 218
Sutter Buttes, Sutter County page 226
Sutter County Court House, Yuba City page 270
Yuba County Heroes pages 286 and 292
Sutter Count}' Heroes page 300
251019
TABLE OF CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
(Numbers refer to pages.)
List of Illustration's 2
Table of Contents 3
Index of Names 1 1
Introductory 35
"Tierra de las Uvas!" — Origin of the name Yuba — Location and area of
Yuba County — Boundaries — Climate — Products and natural resources — Marys-
ville. "The God-made Home of Tree and Vine" — Fertility of Sutter County's
soil (p. 36) — The Sutter Buttes — Gen. John A. Sutter and Hock Farm — Viti-
cultural and horticultural importance of Sutter County. Author's acknowledg-
ments (p. 37).
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
CHAPTER I
The Days of the Indian and the Trapper.. 39
Yuba County's place in the history of the State — Condition prior to
Sutter's arrival — Gen. John A. Sutter and the founding of New Helvetia — Sutter
and Bidwell's relations with Governor Micheltorena (p. 40) — Fremont's rela-
tions with Castro and De Arce (p. 42) — Fremont's camp in the Buttes — The
"Bear Flag Party." Early Settlers and Early Grants (p. 43) : John Sinclair,
1841 — Hock Farm, 1842 — Cordua's Ranch, 1842 — The Flugge Grant — Sicard's
Grant, 1844 — Johnson's Grant, 1844 — Theodore Sicard (p. 44) — Don Pablo
Gutierrez — William Johnson and Sebastian Kyser — George Patterson, 1845, and
"Sutter's Garden" — Charles Roether, 1845 (p. 45) — Jack Smith, 1845 — Michael
Nye. 1847 — Claude Chana — Baptiste Rouelle — Nicolaus Allgeier (p. 46).
CHAPTER II
The "Tragedy of the Sierras" _ 49
William G. Murphy, survivor of the Donner Party — Reminiscences of the
sufferings of the Donner Party, as related by Mr. Murphy to C. G. McGlashan,
and recounted by the latter in his history of the tragedy — Tuthill's account —
Vicissitudes of the Donner Party as related by James F. Reed, a member of the
party, who was instrumental in procuring relief (p. 51).
CHAPTER III
The Story of Joseph Brown 53
Diary of a Forty-niner — The Brown family — Organization of the train —
"Larbert" ox and "starbert" ox — Dissatisfaction, and division of the train (p.
54) — A second division at the Lassen Cut-off — Trouble with Indians (p. 55) — A
feast at Lassen Ranch — Help and advice from Bidwell (p. 56) — Life in the
mining camps — Murder of Mrs. Bader — Floods of 1852 and 1853 (p. 57) —
Marysville in the early fifties (p. 58) — Indian raids, and the killing of the
Heacock children — Prospecting in Nevada (p. 59) — Trouble with the Indians
(p. 60) — In the cattle business in Nevada (p. 62) — Return of the Brown family
to Yuba County — Early settlers in Marysville (p. 63).
CHAPTER IV
Yuba County in the Late Forties 63
Discovery of gold in Yuba County — Realty transactions and changes made
by the early settlers — Credit for first discover}- of gold north of the American
River and in the vicinity of Marysville (p. 64) — Discoveries by Michael Nye
and Jonas Spect — Camp Far West — Realty transactions in 1849 (p. 65) — Board
of commissioners elected at Sacramento to frame a code of laws for the dis-
trict — First election under the code — Town of Vernon founded — Changes in pro-
prietorship of "Nye's Ranch (p. 66) — The Kennebec Company — Survey of the
town of "Yubaville." later named Marysville (p. 67) — A lively real-estate
market — Settlements on Bear River — A counterfeiter of 1849.
4 TABLE OF CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
CHAPTER V
Yuba County in the Fifties 68
An era of growth and progress — Advantages in Marysville's situation —
Quieting of the title to Marysville lands (p. 69) — Choice of tribunal, and dealing
with the criminal element — Nicolaus Allgeier and the town of Nicolaus (p. 70) —
Appearance and population of Marysville in 1850 — Early public religious ser-
vices — Business firms (p. 71) — Eliza, Linda, Featherton, and other early settle-
ments — First white child born in the county (p. 72) — First election of county
officers, April, 1850 — First session of district court in Marysville, June 3. 1850
(p. 73)— The Squatter movement in Marysville — First issue of the Marysville
Herald, August 6, 1850 — State election, October, 1850 — Epidemic of cholera —
City charter drafted for Marysville (p. 74) — Settlers in the early fifties — Bound-
aries of Yuba County, as established on February 18, 1850 — Marysville the
county-seat (p. 75) — Division of county into fifteen townships, August 24,
1850 — Legislative bill incorporating Marysville passed February 5, 1851 — Elec-
tion of city officers — Boundaries of the city, as laid down in original charter —
Boundaries of Yuba County changed, April 25, 1851 — Farming at Hock Farm in
1851 — Prospecting at Marysville landing — County divided into eleven townships,
August 9. 1851 (p. 76) — Rents in 1851 — A Marriage at Hock Farm — Repeal of
the city charter, April 10, 1852 — Reincorporation of Marysville, March 7, 1876,
and new boundaries — Comparison of county's population, 1852, 1860, 1870 and
1877 — Marysville Township — Gray's City Hospital (p. 77) — Practicing attor-
neys — Newspapers — Business firms and real-estate projects — Literary and
musical talent (p. 78) — Gold shipments — Depressing effect of Fraser River
and Washoe excitements — State Fair.
CHAPTER VI
Navigation on the Rivers 79
Status of navigation previous to 1849 — Arrival of the Linda at Rose's
Ranch (p. 80) — The Lawrence and the Governor Dana — Steamboat fares and
traffic — The channel cleared — Fate of the Fawn — California Steam Navigation
Company and Citizens' Steam Navigation Company — The C. M. Small and the
D. E. Knight — Filling of the channels by hydraulic mining, and cessation of
navigation — The move to reestablish navigation on the Feather River.
CHAPTER VII
Transportation in Early and Later Days.. 81
Pack Trains and Wagon Trains: W. H. Parks, J. B. Whitcomb, and
Charles Daniels; pack train from Marysville to Foster's Bar — John Seaward;
pack train from Downieville to Foster's Bar — Extent of the traffic to the
mines — The wagon trains. Stage Lines (p. 82) : Growth of the traffic — The
California Stage Company — An old landmark. The Pony Express: Bronze
marker at site of Western terminal of pony express, Sacramento — Significance
of the pony express — Organization and methods (p. 83) — The arrival of the first
rider — Regulations and service (p. 84) — Suspension, October 27, 1861. First
Local Telegraph Lines: Line from business section of San Francisco to Golden
Gate — Line connecting Marysville, Sacramento, Stockton, and San Jose — Line
from San Francisco to Placerville, via Sacramento. The Railroads: California
Pacific Railroad — California Northern Railroad (p. 85) — California Central Rail-
road — Western Pacific Railroad (p. 86) — Earlier attempts — Sacramento Valley
Railroad — Present railway facilities (p. 87) — Remembers first train.
CHAPTER VIII
Gold Mining in Yuba County 88
Old landmark at Timbuctoo — Early-day terms, customs, and methods —
Development of hydraulic mining and dredge mining (p. 90) — Yuba County's
leading place as a mining centre (p. 91). Proposed Dams at Bullards Bar and
Smartsville: Interests behind the project (p. 92) — Prospective resumption of
hydraulic mining — Water and power interests — Possibilities of danger (p. 93) —
Letter of Major Grant — Replv of the editor of the Bee (p. 94) — Later details
of the project (p. 98).
CHAPTER IX
Floods and Flood Control : 99
Notable Floods: Indian tradition of a great flood, about 1805 — Indian
Peter's account of the flood in the winter of 1825-1826 — Floods of the late
TABLE OF CONTENTS— HISTORICAL 5
forties— Account of the floods of 1852-1853 — Other early floods (p. 100) — The
flood of 1875 (p. 101). Flood Control (p. 103): The levees; their construction
and improvement — Levee district and levee commissioners (p. 104) — Reclama-
tion districts (p. 105).
CHAPTER X
Crimes and Criminals 106
Near lynchings, in cases of Greenwood and Keiger. Noted Road Bandits:
Holding up of the Camptonville stage, October, 1852 — Tom Bell (p. 107) — Jim
Webster (p. 108) — "Jack Williams' Ghost" — Tommie Brown and brother —
"Black Bart." Other Noted Criminals and Crimes: Killing of "Mountain
Scott" — Murder of Dr. Gray (p. 109) — Decker-Jewett bank robbery (p. 110) —
Killing of Dennis Dufficy (p. Ill) — Race-track murder (p. 112) — Murder in
Schimpville (p. 114) — Assassination of George Bell — A Christmas Day crime
(p. 115) — Robbery of Oregon express — Murder of Julius Pier (p. 116) — Tragic
results of I. W. W. agitation in the hop-fields (p. 117) — In memoriam (p. 119) —
Murder of the Picards. Victims among the Police (p. 120) : John Sperbeck —
James Mock (p. 121) — Francis M. Heenan.
CHAPTER XI
Courts and Bar of Yuba County :.... 122
The Whipping-post in Yuba County: Case of the People of the State of
California against Frederick Burcholder and John Barrett, from the Register
of Suits, April 7 and 8, 1850 — Directory account of a whipping-post case. The
Code of Honor (p. 123) : Near-duel between judges — Cause, a woman — News-
paper men mix — Another bloodless duel — Turner-Howser duel (p. 124) — Last
on the county records. Judicial Organization: District Court — Court of Ses-
sions — C oun ty Court (p. 125) — Probate Court — Recorder's, Mayor's and Police
Courts — Justices of the Peace. Bar of Yuba County (p. 126): Associates of
Judge Field in Marysville — Other Members of early bar of county — Marysville
attorneys of a later day (p. 128) — Present-day members of Yuba County bar.
CHAPTER XII
County Officials, Past and Present 128
Judges and Justices: District judges — County judges — Superior Court
judges — Justices of the peace — Constables in the Justice Court of Marysville
Township (p. 129). District attorneys — Sheriffs and coroners — Public Ad-
ministrators — Members of the board of supervisors — County assessors, treas-
urers, and tax-collectors (p. 130) — County clerks and county auditors and
recorders. Other County Officials: Superintendents of schools — County
surveyors.
CHAPTER XIII
The City of Marysville -— - 133
The Christening of the City: Account of Stephen J. Field's early activi-
ties — The city named (p. 137) — A tribute to Marysville's godmother — A highly
prized souvenir (p. 138). An Early Account of the City (p. 139): History
of Nye's Ranch in preface of first Marysville directory, 1853 — Earliest form of
government — First county election — New city incorporated (p. 140) — Old toll-
bridge between Marysville and Yuba City. The Baptism of Fire: Marysville's
first fire — Other early fires (p. 141) — The fire at the Southern Pacific freight
sheds (p. 143) — Fire and flood combine — Frost and Shaffer fire (p. 144) —
Later fires — Esteemed youth loses life (p. 145) — Burning of the old theater
building — Fire chief loses life — Destruction of the Binet Row — Other fires
(p. 146)— Biggest of all. Marysville Fire Department: The city's first fire
company — Other early companies — Fraternity and rivahy among the early
companies (p. 147) — Personnel of the department (p. 148) — Improvements
in equipment. Newspapers of the City (p. 149) : The Marysville Herald —
The California Express— The Daily Inquirer (p. 150)— The Weekly Spiritual-
ist — Marysville Daily News, and Daily National Democrat— The Daily
and Weeky Appeal— The Marysville Daily Standard (p. 151)— The Marysville
Democrat. Early Industries and Business Firms: Marysville Foundry — Em-
pire Foundry— Marysville Woolen Mills (p. 152)— The Marysville Winery-
Buckeye Flour Mills— A faithful watchman— Trayner & Ellis Flour Mills (p.
153) — Early carriage and wagon works— Union Lumber Company—Other
manufacturing industries of the early days — Earlv express companies (p. 154)
Other early business firms. Financial Institutions (p. 155): Earliest banking
6 TABLE OF CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
houses — Decker-Jewett Bank — The Rideout string of banks (p. 156) — Northern
California Bank of Savings — First National Bank of Marysville. Hotels, Past
and Present (p. 157): Early structures, 1850-1852 — The Western Hotel—
The Dawson House — United States Hotel (p. 158) — Other early-day hos-
telries — Projected hotel. Public Buildings: Public buildings erected in the
early fifties— The Courthouse (p. 159)— The County Hospital— The City Hall
and other buildings. The Packard Free Library (p. 160): The Marysville
Library Association — Organization and growth of the City Library (p. 161) —
The library building — John Q. Packard, philanthropist (p. 162). Public Parks .
and Grounds (p. 163) : Cortez, Napoleon, Washington, and Yuba Squares —
Knight Recreation Park — Marysville's Free Motor Park — List of city's breath-
ing spots (p. 164) — Fealty of a fraternity. Amusements and Sports (p. 165) :
First public entertainment in Marysville — Shows and showhouses — The famed
Intrepid Baseball Club (p. 166) — Harvest Festival in Marysville's Chinatown.
Marysville's Police Department (p. 167) : Early Vigilance Committees —
Officers of the police department (p. 168). City Officials, Past and Present (p.
169): Mayors and aldermen, 1851-1875 — Mayors and councilmen, 1875-1919
(p. 170) — Mayors and councilmen under new charter (p. 171) — Other city
officials.
CHAPTER XIV
Schools of the City and County 172
Birthplace of the school system of Marysville: the private school of Rev.
S. V. Blakeslee, May. 1850— Rev. Mr. Thatcher's school. Early Public School
System: Organization and growth, in detail, 1851-1870. Other Early-day
Schools (p. 173) : Marysville Eclectic Institute — Poston Seminary — State Re-
form School (p. 175) — Knoxville Institute (p. 176) — Other private schools
(p. 177). The County's Present School System: Marysville High School —
Growth of the city schools (p. 178) — Present rural schools.
CHAPTER XV
Churches of Marysville 179
Early religious work of Revs. Washburne, Wilson, Burrell, Blakeslee,
Hunt, and Brier. First Presbyterian Church (p. 180) : Extracts from the jour-
nal of Rev. W. W. Brier, 1850, and account of the church to date. Methodist
Episcopal Church (p. 181): First Methodist quarterly conference, June 15,
1850 — First meeting house erected in Marysville, on D Street, 1850 — Pastors
and officials — Present church edifice. St. Joseph's Catholic Church (p. 182) :
Work of Fathers Acker, Anderson, Ingraham; and Magganotta. 1851-1853 — Erec-
tion of cathedral, 1855, and subsequent history. The Baptist Church (p. 183):
■ Organization of work in 1854, under Rev. O. B. Stone — Founding of Mt. Olivet
Baptist Church, 1856; officials and church building. African M. E. Church:
Organization in 1854 — First pastor and trustees — Destruction of old church and
erection of new. St. John's Episcopal Church (p. 184) : Formation of society,
April 30, 1855 — First officials — Successive rectors — Church edifice. German
Methodist Church — Church of the Immaculate Conception — First Christian
Church — First Church of Christ, Scientist (p. 185).
CHAPTER XVI
Fraternal, Social and Literary Organizations 185
Influence and work of the benevolent orders in the early days — The
Masons— Marysville Lodge, No. 9, F. & A. M. — Marvsville Masonic Hall (p.
186)— The DeLong Collection— Corinthian Lodge, No. 9, F. & A. M.— Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows (p. 187)— Independent Order of B'nai B'rith—
Ancient Order of Hibernians — Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (p.
188) — The Elks' Home — Foresters of America — Knights of Columbus (p:
189) — Other fraternal orders. Societies and Clubs: Marvsville Pioneer So-
ciety— Marysville Art Club (p. 190)— The Shakespeare Club.
CHAPTER XVII
Military and After-War Organizations 191
Local military organizations during the Civil War— The Yuba Guards
(p. 192)— Marysville Rifles— Marvsville Union Guards— Marvsville Zouaves—
Marysvdk- Light Artillery— Sherman Guards— Marysville GuaVds. Company
C, Champions of the World (p. 193): List of local contestants, account of the
event, and subsequent history of the company— World's championship record
TABLE OF CONTENTS— HISTORICAL 7
(p. 194) — Key to plate. After-War Organizations (p. 197) : Yuba-Sutter Post.
American Legion — Bishop-Langenbach Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars —
Women's Auxiliary to the American Legion, and "40 and 8" (p. 198).
CHAPTER XVIII
Other Towns of the County.... 198
Marysville's sister settlements. Wheatland: ,_J>etrlement and history —
Farmers Bank of Wheatland (p. 199) — Organizations of the town — The weekly
newspaper — Men who made Wheatland (p. 200). Browns Valley : l_Mines and
mining claims — Hotels, stores, and stopping places (p. 201) — The Hooker
Guards. Indiana Ranch: Early settlers and origin of name; Miss Phillips'
private school. Dobbins Ranch \Jjp. 202) : William Dobbins — Subsequent
owners of the ranch. Greenville: L^ct&ation and early history — "Nine-horse
Ditch" — School. Strawberry Valley: Name and early history — The town at
present (p. 203). Hansonville: Location and early settlers — Former popula-
tion — School. Brownsville (p. 204) : Location and early industries — Odd
Fellows and Good Templars lodges — Methodist Episcopal Church — Later
growth. Challenge: Origin of name — Industries. Foster's Bar: Location —
William Foster, original proprietor and mine-owner. Bullard's Bar: Dr. Bul-
lard, pioneer miner — Other early settlers — First bridge (p. 205) — Bullard's
Guards — Other bars in the vicinity — Bullard's Bar dam. Camptonville: Loca-
tion and early mining operations — Early stores and hotels — Robert Campton
(p. 206) — Stage lines — Early schools — Early water companies — Yuba Light
Infantry. Smartsville (p. 207) : Pioneer settlers of the town — Union Church —
Church of the Immaculate Conception — Sketch of Catharine Johnson Berry.
Timbuctoo (p. 209) : Origin of the name — Early importance as a mining center
— Wells, Fargo & Company's building — Former population — Amusements —
First school (p. 210). Sucker Flat tformeriv Gatesville) : Early settlers —
Near-by towns. Rose Bar: First discovery of gold on Yuba River. June 2,
1848, by James Spect — Other early settlers — William H. Parks — Mining on
the river and in the ravines. Sicard Flat: Theodore Sicard, 1860 — Surface
diggings and hydraulic mining. Long Bar (p. 211): Mining begun, 1849 — A
state visit to the Nash girls — Population in 18S0. Oregon House: An early
landmark — A grand party at the Oregon House, 1853 — The Yuba Mountaineers.
Parks Bar: David Parks, 1848 — Immense profits of his trading post and store
(p. 212) — Richness of the gold deposits. Settlements of Short Duration: A
list, by townships, of the early mining camps.
CHAPTER XIX
Who Remembers? ,.... 213
A chapter of reminiscences of local interest, featuring scenes of b3'gone
days, customs long since outgrown in' the progress of change and improvement,
unique characters once familiar on the streets of the city, social events of the
past, and the pastimes and pranks of boyhood days.
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
CHAPTER I
General Sutter's Gun •-- 219
Description of General Sutter's gun — The gun now in Dr. J. H. Barr's
collection of firearms and curios — Affidavit of authenticity — A companion relic,
air-rifle brought from Switzerland by General Sutter — Description of the
weapon — Benny Lynch, Marysville's Lilliputian pioneer — Brief account of
his life.
CHAPTER II
Sutter County 220
One of the original counties — Subsequent territorial changes. County
Seat and County Buildings: Various changes in location of county scat — Judge
Keyser's review — County Courthouse (p. 221) — Hall of Records (p. 222) — Nico-
laus, Auburn and Vernon as county seat — The courthouse fire of 1871 — Details
of the fire of 1899 (p. 223). Sutter County Buttes (p. 224): Description—Min-
eral deposits. Climate and Water Supply: Peculiar adaptability of soil and
8 TABLE OF CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
climate to agricultural and horticultural pursuits — Irrigation (p. 227). Reclam-
ation and Levee Districts: Number of districts — Names and locations of dis-
tricts — The Sutter Basin Project. Agricultural Products and Industries (p. 229) :
Summary of most important products — Dairying, poultry-raising, and stock-
raising. Transportation: Exceptional transportation facilities by land and
water — Early ferries and toll bridges. Other Advantages (p. 231) : The first
"no-saloon" county in California — Birthplace of Thompson Seedless Grape
industry and of the Phillips Cling Peach — Fish and wild game.
CHAPTER III
Native Indian Tribes : - 232
Yuba City once the site of an Indian village — Brief review of the tribes
and their locations — Bancroft's classification of the Indians of the Coast —
Johnson's comment, in government report of 1850 (p. 233) — Johnson's list of the
tribes — Locations of tribes according to Bidwell — Location and description of
other tribes. Early-day Indian Troubles (p. 234) : Reference to these troubles,
and to measures taken for their settlement, in the Placer Times of May 20,
1850 — General Green's report (p. 235) — Copy of the treaty.
V
CHAPTER IV
Crimes and Criminals '. — 238
Comparative peace and quiet of the county — Early-day appeals to mob
law: Record of an early court proceeding, and the hanging of Washington
Rideout and of John Jackson — Attitude of the press (p. 239) — Necessity for
occasional activities outside the law in early days — Joaquin Murietta and Tom
Bell (p. 240)— William Wells.
CHAPTER V
The Era of Agriculture 241
Present remarkable transformation of the county from agricultural to
horticultural and viticultural district — Early agricultural and stock-raising
activities (1845-1846) — Primitive methods of farming — Introduction of modern
methods (p. 242) — Other crops and further development — Importation and
exportation of wheat (p. 243) — The Farmers' Cooperative Union of Sutter
County (p. 244) — Farmers' Union Bank — Producers' Bank of Yuba City
(p. 245) — Nicolaus Farmers' Grain Warehouse — Early-day growers of grain —
Rice a new crop in Sutter County (p. 246) — Beans and the full dinner pail.
CHAPTER VI
Horticulture and Viticulture 247
Marvelous transformation of Sutter County from vast grain fields to a
panorama of orchards and vineyards — A three-fold union of earth's greatest
riches: soil, water, and climate — The remarkable valley deposits of silt-like
loam. Beginnings of the Fruit Industry: First orchard in Northern California,
planted by Gen. John A. Sutter, at Hock Farm — Commissioner Stabler's
account of the beginnings of the fruit industry in Sutter County — Abbott and
Phillips (p. 248) — Birth of the Phillips cling peach — Other pioneer fruit growers
(p. 249). Present status of the Fruit Industry (p. 250): Data from Commis-
sioner Stabler's census of the county — Quality, and tonnage per acre — New
early-fruiting midsummer peach (p. 251) — Viticulture — Almonds at home in
Sutter County — Prunes and plums (p. 252) — Growing and packing of figs — Fruit
plantings in 1923.
CHAPTER VII
The Fight Against Hydraulic Mining... 253
Strained relations between the mountain and valley sections during period
of litigation against hydraulic mining — Work of the Anti-Debris Associations —
Hydraulicking defined (p. 254) — Magnitude of the menace — Litigation in the
State courts (p. 255) — Relief in the Federal courts — The Sawyer Decision
(p. 256) — Valley men who stood in the vanguard (p. 257) — George Ohleyer
(p. 258)— A song of victory (p. 260)— The Caminetti Act (p. 261).
TABLE OF CONTENTS— HISTORICAL 9
CHAPTER VIII
Work of the Women's Clubs 261
The six clubs of the county affiliated with the California Federation of
Women's Clubs — Bi-County Federation of Women's Clubs — Unveiling of mon-
ument to Fremont (p. 262) : Newspaper account of the ceremonies on the
occasion of the unveiling of the memorial — Cross to surmount the Buttes
(p. 263) : Bishop Moreland's statement in advocacy of the movement for the
erection of a permanent cross (p. 264) ; formation of the Sutter Butte Cross
Association.
CHAPTER IX
Public Officials and Professional Men 264
Political and judicial association of Yuba and Sutter Counties — Senators
of the Sixth District (1851-1923) — Members of the Assembly, Eighth District
(1851-1923) (p. 265) — District, County and Superior Court judges — District
attorneys (p. 266) — Sheriffs, coroners, and public administrators — Members of
the board of supervisors — County assessors and county treasurers — County
clerks and county auditors and recorders — Other county officials (p. 267) : Su-
perintendents of schools, county surveyors. Professional Men: Yuba City
barristers of early and later days — Physicians practicing in Sutter County in
early and later days.
CHAPTER X
Yuba City 268
The City in Early Days : Deeding of the site of the city by Capt. John A.
Sutter, July 27, 1849 — Survey of the prospective city — Early historian's state-
ment of the advantages of the site of Yuba City over that of Nye's Ranch
(Marysville) — The first store — Rivalry between Yuba City and Marysville —
Reminiscences of 1850 (p. 273) : Facts and incidents related by William Arm-
strong — Early development (p. 274) — Incorporation of the c^ty. Yuba City
Today (p. 275) : Resume of city, as given in article prepared by Sutter County
Chamber of Commerce and San Francisco magazine — Municipal water-works —
Street-paving and zoning (p. 276) — Memorial Park — Masonic Lodge — Odd Fel-
lows Lodge (p. 277) — Other Yuba City lodges — Resident veterans of Corinth
Post, No. 80, G. A. R. (p. 278).
CHAPTER XI
Other Towns of the County 278
Rapid development of the thriving farming communities of the county.
Live Oak: Location and business interests — Transformation of outlying dis-
tricts under irrigation — Chief products — Public schools. Nicolaus: Shipping
and commercial center for southern part of Sutter County — Judge Keyser's
reminiscences (p. 279) — First Christmas in California — Churches of the city
(p. 280). Sutter City: Location and description — Churches — Sutter City High
School (p. 281). Meridian: Advantageous location — Reclamation District No.
70 — Church activities — Settlement and early growth. Pennington. Pleasant
Grove (p. 282), and other towns.
YUBA-SUTTER WAR WORK
LEST WE FORGET
Summary of Patriotic Activities in the "Twin Counties" During the
World War..... ----- 283
Loval Americanism of the people — Work of the Red Cross and its auxili-
aries — Yuba-Sutter Chapter of the Red Cross, and its work at the Packard
Library — Branch meeting places — Sutter County headquarters — Research work
of Mrs. G. W. Harney, of Marysville, and Mrs. Hugh Moncur, of Yuba City,
in gathering and preserving the records of Yuba and Sutter Counties' hero
dead — Mr. Henry M. Rideout's introduction to their work.
10 TABLE OF CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
IN MEMORIAM
Yuba County Heroes 284
Lester A. Bishop — Lewis J. Blodget — Claude Bayne Boswell — Fred T.
Bottler (p. 287)— James M. Brown— Charles Fred Cassano (p. 288) — Richard
Norton Coupe — Patrick Henry Dugan — Frank Raymond Gengler (p. 289) —
Lawrence Gray — Bert J. Hale — Earl Dewey Hall (p. 290) — Preston Francis
Hendricks — Edward Hove — Arthur Eugene Linnell — Charles William McCon-
aughy — Lewis Melton McCurry (p. 293) — Wilton Lyle McDonald — Edward J.
McGanney (p. 294) — John E. Milligan — William Lee Norton — Horatio Devore
Poole (p." 295)— Wilfred Rudolph Smith— Charles S. Waller— William Oliver
White (p. 296) — John Zvijerkoviclv
Sutter County Heroes 297
Trugva M. Bordsen — Joseph Miner Burns — William Stewart Cannon (p.
298) — Manuel F. Gomes — Herman L. Hansen — Paul John Lagenbach — Sidney
Henry Lyall (p. 301) — Harold J. Moore — Elmer Elwood Van Lew — Everett
Kelly Wisner (p. 302).
Roll of Honor 303
Classified List of War Heroes from Yuba and Sutter Counties who made
the supreme sacrifice in the service of their country during the World War, and
those since deceased, including: Yuba County Heroes — Sutter County Heroes
— Heroes Deceased Since the War.
INDEX OF NAMES— BIOGRAPHICAL
(Numbers refer to pages.)
A
Abbott, Alexander Franklin 326
Abbott, Mary E 326
Adams, Burwell B 660
Addington, David Morgan, M.D... 410
Adkins, Oliver Perry 1186
Adloff, Mrs. Mary K. Dean 1312
Alban, Conrad 1303
Albrecht, Louis F 587
Alderman, Foster Ferber 1181
Alderman, Roger L 871
Alexander, Clarence M 1226
Alexander, Claude W 1324
Allen, Edward W 951
Allnett, John W 1263
Alvernez, Antone 797
Ames, John L 560
Anderson, William 1233
Andreason, John C 1192
Andreason, John Christian, Sr 959
Andreason, Laurentine 959
Arbucco, Andrew G 715
Arfsten, Anton Dietrich 1232
Armstead, Albert Hamilton 617
Armstrong, Jasper N., Jr 546
Arnold, Wylo J. 921
Arnoldy, Elmer Francis 709
Arnoldy, Mat 575
Ashburn, Charles Edmund 1258
Ashford, Nelson D 999
Ashford, Richard Carleton 1048
Ashford, Wilson Weslev 1204
Ashley, J. A 1066
Ashley. Jav W 1270
Atherton, William G 1 157
B
Backus, John Horace 1294
Bailev, Arthur 1258
Bailev, Mrs. Elizabeth : 951
Bailey, R. H 1310
Bainbridge, Albert Pike 508
Baker, Frank 1322
Baker, George B 956
Baldwin, Arthur T 748
Baldwin, James C 532
Ball, Frank 796
Barker, Herbert 475
Barrett, John Joseph 1263
Barrie, James B 1255
Baumgardner, George M 1015
Baun, Louis D 784
Bean, Arnold R 752
Bean, Joel 440
Bean, John A 639
Bean, Mrs. Marv A 440
Bean, Paris G 1316
Becker, Adolph Fred 1302
Becker, Charles J 527
Becker, Charles J 1269
Beik, William 526
Beilby, Charles W 1295
Beilby, Chester R 1323
Bell, J. W 759
Bender, Joseph (Krull & Bender) . . . 564
Benton, Fred Norman 1119
Berg, Henry Frederick 543
Bernal, Valentine E 403
Berry, Mrs. Ida E 783
Best, Charles G ' 1327
Best, Henry 321
Best, Samuel E 552
Betty, Horace Ackley 614
Betty, Leonard 676
Bevan, Richard Edwin 538
Bevan, Thomas Edward 467
Bigelow, W. F 595
Bihlman, Anthony William 1288
Bihlman, George 316
Bihlman, George H 600
Billings, E. F 550
Binninger, M. H 445
Bissett, Lee H 1257
Bisset, Thomas McCov 1275
Blackford, Price 433
Blanchard, Milton Eugene 1116
Blue, Henry 605
Boardman, Cassius F 849
Bohon, George B 1254
Booth, Frank Martin 1080
Bosard, Andrew Keller 830
Boulton, Arthur H 980
Bourgeois, Joseph T 1087
Bowen, Chester L 896
Bovd, C. R S13
Bovd, Charles R., Jr 1225
Bovd, Eugene, M 1262
Bovd, George T 623
Bovnton, Ed A 578
Bradlev, Capt. C. T 555
Bradley, Miss Eva M 332
Brass, Joseph • • • 334
Bremer, Frank G 1040
Brill, Mrs. Evelyn J 566
Brittan, George E 353
Britton, Sam Bradley 1016
Brock, Isaac Norton 347
Brock, Mrs. Jeanette M 347
Brockman, John Henry 679
Brown, Antone Francis l-'l
Brown, Dan F 1012
Brown, James Jh
Brown, Kenneth R 624
Brownlee, Archie L }15o
Bruce, Edward Wilcoxon 1 307
Bruce, Frank H 1123
Bryant, Walter J 929
Brvdeu, James £«
Buchanan, Wilson Murray MU
Buckingham, Mrs. Amanda Ellen... 563
Buckingham, Henry 1032
Burch, Harry A 830
1-'
INDEX OF NAMES— BIOGRAPHICAL
Burmood, William Henry 1202
Burns, Clarence W 1265
Burns, John 1031
Burris, Byron 826
Burris, Byron, Sr 1272
Burroughs, William Curt 537
Burroughs, William R 992
Butler, Edward 551
Butz, Peter J 491
Byers, Philip M 763
Byrne, James 1249
Byrne, James D 1249
C
Caldwell, Annie (Winship) 409
Calvin, M. G. 1011
Campa, Faustino 980
Campbell, Mrs. Ida Virginia 1157
Capaul, Ulrich Antone 1127
Carlson, Carl P 819
Carlson, Sett Thure 823
Carmichael, Peter L 1112
Carpenter, James C 1248
Carroll, James D 420
Carroll, John J., Jr 420
Carter, William S 1 182
Case, Edward L 1247
Casev, Katherine B 372
Casey, Martin E 372
Cassano, John Baptist 1292
Cate, Horatio Clifford 976
Catlett, Howard R 1 180
Channon, John Francis 634
Chase, Arthur W 935
Chism, Mary Julia 362
Chism, William H 362
Christ, Conrad 1168
Christman, Rollie, S., D. V. M 691
Christopherson, George Washington 496
Clark, Cvrus B 1019
Clark, H". W 457
Clark, Walter Sherman 942
Clarke, Albert J 1305
Clements, William Andrew 607
Coats, William A 1084
Colford, John Patrick 810
College of Notre Dame 891
Colley, Ellsworth A 1190
"Collins, John S 1035
Connarn, William M 594
Conneghan, Cornelius 1279
Cook, Seely 881
Cooley, Verdenal W 731
Coplantz, Elvis Lafayette 1301
Coppin, George E 1240
Coppin, James Robert 1168
Coppin, Samuel Miller 952
Corliss, Amos R 1 1 72
Corliss, Henry Brown 1172
Correll, George 888
Costa, Martin 699
Coupe. Henry 1268
Cramsie, John E 759
Creed, John J 1296
Cremin, J. M 319
Creps, Roscoe S 1173
Cress, J. M 550
Crook. Leslie B 1236
Cuddcback, Dewitt Clinton 1299
Curran, Dennis D 1076
Curry, George Washington 1140
Cutts, Walter B 572
D
Da Cosse, Charles A 1238
Dahling, Louis E 596
Dam, Arthur King 751
Dam, C. K 1144
Dam, Cyrus Harry. . . .- 1211
Dam, Frances L 1 144
Darrach, Peter A 1220
Davis, C. F 1292
Davis, Grant 668
Dean, Edward 1048
Dean, Edwina S 1048
Dean, Capt. Thomas 322
Delay, Peter J. 310
Dempsey, Daniel 968
Dempsey, John F 963
Dempsey, William J 1321
De Wayne, Mrs. Harriet E 764
De Witt, Mrs. Florence Welthy 341
De Witt, Frank W 1164
De Witt, Richard C 1254
De Witt, William Golder 341
Disernia, Antonio M 1273
Dobbins, Homer L 834
Dolan, Timothy J 815
Donaldson, Frank 666
Drake, Harvey Scott 498
Drake, Isaac 581
Dunning, Halsey H 307
Durst, D. P., M. D 1187
Durst, Ralph H 1187
Dutra, Frank M 1290
E
Eager, Oscar 1328
Eich, Harvey D 510
Ely, Calvin Luther 779
Engel, Peter 481
Engstrom, Theodore F., D. 904
Erickson, Alvin 1253
Erickson, Isaac 1161
Erickson, Paul 1179
Esenman, Paul George 738
F
Fairlee, Earl 1252
Farington, Charles Frederick 612
Farington, Irwin Edson 612
Farmer, Lee J 1327
Fehr, Frederick C 1069
Fellows, George W 850
Ferguson, Thomas A 1301
Fichter, Richard Milton 482
Filter, Joseph 1289
Finch, David U 1178
Finch, Walter H 1247
Finch, Willey L 1100
Fippins, J. D 507
Fippins, Lillie Mae 507
Fisher, Frank L 1317
Fitts, Amasa E 1207
Flannery, Patrick J 618
Fleshman, John W 1300
Folsom, Albert Franklin 659
Forbes, Alexander R 1197
Forbes, Gen. E. A 1197
Forderhase, Edward Henry 922
INDEX OF NAMES— BIOGRAPHICAL
13
Forderhase, Otto B 785
Foster, John Rupert 876
Foster, Marie D 876
Foulk, George H 867
Eraser, Samuel J 428
Freeman, Lavern L 342
. G
Gage, Arthur Braxton 859
Galligan, Andrew L 887
Galligan Bros 887
Galligan, Clarence F 887
Galligan, George A. and William L. 1245
Galligan, Matthew 1245
Garmire, Preston E 1200
Garrett, James Rilev 315
Gates, Chester 534
Gee, George Edgar 1053
Gern, William 779
Gianella, Thomas A 570
Gianella, Vincenzo 570
Giblin, John Warner 671
Giblin, Thomas Francis 1044
Gibson, William C 1000
Girdner, Henry Tutt 355
Girdner, Joseph 337
Gledhill, Harrison Morton 1201
Glenn, George R 1207
Glenn, John Polk 1160
Glenn, John Thomas 1218
Goetz, Antone William 967
Goetz, Carl 1320
Gomes, Manuel F 1285
Goolsby, Thomas Sierra Nevada.... 509
Gorwood, Arthur 772
Gottwals. George William 1039
Grams, Alonzo 1083
Grahn, Gustaf 1115
Grant, Allan H 1284
Grant, William 655
Graves, Albert William 601
Gray, Allen Earl, M. D 711
Gray, Everett E., M. D 814
Grav, James Clarence 747
Gray, Mrs. Minnie M 1274
Gray, Walter S 1230
Greely, Fred Henry 313
Greet, Alfred. 945
Gregor3', Marion Eugene 665
Griffith, Clarence V 863
Griffith, John 578
Griffith, Mrs. Martha Matilda 521
Groh, Charles H 1243
Groh, Fred D 1243
Gurney, Elmer E 1277
Gurney, Leo B 1261
H
Hageman, Henrv H 795
Hall, Elmer S. R 1065
Hall, Francis F 1074
Hall, George W 710
Hall, Joseph H 613
Hamm, Robert C 565
Hammon, Wendell P 1194
Hamon, Charles E 1241
Hampshire, George T 1242
Haney, Milton 700
Hansen, John H 533
Hanson, Elof 1246
Harkey, Mrs. Clarinda 1020
Harkey, William Pinckney 1020
Harmon, Charles Wilder 963
Harris, Edgar A 618
Harris, Edward H 1043
Harris, Jeremiah A 899
Harris, Jesse C 945
Harris, Mrs. Rhoda E 899
Harrison, William 1293
Hartley, Joseph Robert 1139
Harvey, Charles F., Sr 1162
Harwood, Benjamin R 825
Hauck, Ernest R 545
Hauss, Elizabeth 1073
Hauss, Ferdinand 1073
Hauss, Fred 1074
Havey, John, Sr 846
Hawley, Roland Henry 606
Hayne, William Alston 381
Haynes, Norman E 692
Haynes, Thomas W 945
Heier, Mrs. Anna 1193
Heier, George W 1193
Heiken, Fred H 860
Heiken, John B 602
Heisch, Edward F 696
Helsem Bros 1032
Hemstreet, D. A 911
Henderson, Thomas J 809
Henrichsen, Hans 1286
Henson, William Leonard 1058
Herboth, B. J 1284
Herrin, Edward Walker 1035
Herzog, Albert 1326
Herzog, George F 975
Hewitt, Edna Jane 992
Hiatt, Glenwood J 833
Hickeson, L. P 1289
Hicks, Champ 908
Hicks, Judge Stephen D 987
Hill, Arthur L 675
Hill, Elbert L 1224
Hill, Robert .' 1190
Hite, Herbert L 672
Hite, Lincoln Edward 813
Hixson, Carroll Wilber 988
Hixsou, Wilmer W 1229
Hoeppner, Emil A 419
Hoffman, George J 1070
Hoke, Harmon August 502
Hollingshead, Joseph Easton 352
Holman, Jesse L 1036
Holmes, Thomas E 1119
Hoist, Henry 767
Hosking, Frank 728
Howser, Steve 525
Hull, Mrs. Maggie 704
Hunn, Edwin A 699
Hunt, Jasper J 1324
Hust, Charles 9° 7
Hutchinson, Ernest E 531
Hutchinson, F. L 8 °1
Hutchinson, Oscar R 841
Hutchinson, Ralph 1251
Hutchinson, Ray Elmer 1222
I
Irwin, Alex C 1279
A4
INDEX OF NAMES— BIOGRAPHICAL
J
James, Lewis Franklin 1070
Jasper, Henrv Carrington 768
Jeffery, H. B 1308
Jenkins, Clarence Wilmot. 819
Jensen, John T 806
Joaquin, John 628
Johnson, Albert John 1252
Johnson, Charles 1220
Johnson, Charles H 1322
Johnson, Edward Carl '1007
Johnson, Ephraim 106S
Johnson, Fred 871
Johnson, John Sanders 991
Johnson, Mrs. Sadie L 871
Johnson, Samuel David 531
Jones, Mrs. Bell 635
Jones, David N 1171
Jones, David Nevens, Sr 1174
Jones, M. Elmer 1266
Jones, Mrs. Maria 635
Jones, Raymond Henry 544
Jopson, Alonzo 1128
Jopson, Charles Willows 972
Joseph, Thomas 426
Joubert, Frederick J 1091
Joy, William H 434
K
Kaas. John 703
Karstens, John Henrv 1299
Keck, Robert 696
Kcelcr, G. F 540
Keesy, Fred A 1151
Kells, Robert C 1087
Kennedy, David 996
Kerr, Joseph 1309
Kerrigan, P. A 583
Keys, William Julius 1169
Kimball, George H 519
Kimball, John H 519
Kimerer, Carl 639
Klenzendorf, Henry J 555
Klenzendorf, Lillie 555
Kline, Claude C 1317
Knight, George W 629
Knoop, Fred 1230
Kramer, Austin 941
Krehe, Fred J 1221
Krehe, Henry 414
Krehe, J. J 414
Krull, Christina Hagemann 1202
Krull, E. C 564
Krull, Joseph 1228
Krull & Bender 564
Kupser, Mrs. Anna Mary 1115
Kussenberger, John G 979
Kuster, Emery Ellsworth 1231
Kuster, Samuel, Jr 1250
Kynoch, Walter A 912
I,
Labadie, Benjamin F 522
Labadie, Francis S 712
Labadie, Orson P 737
Lambert, Rev. George M 1095
Lambert, Harriet I . . .' 1095
Lamme, John Hamilton 608
Langdon, Everett B 377
Langdon, Judge W. E 377
Lange, Harry Conrad 806
Lanzendorf, Oscar W 1015
Lauritzen, Harold C 549
Lawton, Maurice E 1 100
Lay, John D 741
Leal, Manuel 719
Lehner, Ludwig M 907
Lemmon, Andrew Jackson . . 1123
Lewis, A. Walter 325
Lewis, Mrs. Emma M 353
Lewis, James Edwin 338
Lewis, Rov Henry 594
Lewis, William A 895
Liebig, Fred 556
Linggi, Albert 1177
Lipp, Frank Milton 972
Littlejohn, George Washington.... 649
Littlejohn, Helen D 742
Littlejohn, Howard Grant 387
Littlejohn, James 742
Littlejohn, James A 452
Lohman, Louis D 1155
Long, Thomas H 687
Lopes, Mrs. Mary 1104
Losey, Isaac S 627
Luckensmeyer, Henry W 653
Luther, Everett Wheaton 1267
Luther, H 492
Luther, J. F 1257
Lybecker, Erick B 478
Lysell, Edwin C 640
Lytken, William 1256
Lytle, Mrs. Clara P 661
Mc
McAnulty, Joseph B 1155
McCarty, Andrew Joseph 802
McCarty, Matthew H 752
-McCoy, Charles J 386
McDaniel, E. W 400
McDaniel, Hon. Eugene P 421
McDaniel, George E 959
McDevitt, Mrs. Almeda E 850
McFadden, Andrew 825
McKinney, John A 361
McLean, Stanley Ralph 1069
McNamara, Michael James 1127
McPherrin, Earl Elwood 1306
McQuaid, Charles E 395
McQuaid, Isaac Clark 395
McRae, Jack Wilson 1165
McRoberts, William G 623
McWilliam, George 1170
M
Magruder, George Henrv 514
Mahon, Hon. Kirby Smith 356
Major, George Lawrence 1244
Malaley, Jennie 1108
Mangels, William D 854
Manwell, Ray 359
Marders, Cay Nelson 976
Martignone, Andrew 1270
Martin, Omar Hartzell 755
Martini, Nicolaus 805
Matthews, George W 1261
Meek, Jason Russell 925
Meek, William Mayo 1291
Meier, Frederick A 630
Meier, Christ 760
INDEX OF NAMES— BIOGRAPHICAL
15
Meier, William F 926
Mellon, William J 1124
Merriam, Charles E 644
Merriam, Henry G 900
Merriam, Joseph Chester 449
Merz, Charles W 837
Messick, Charles C 1217
Metteer, Charles H 351
Metteer, George Baxter 334
Meyer, Charles William 1264
Meyer, Edna No}'es 946
Meyer, LeRoy Henry 946
Michel, Mrs. Anna 1003
Michel, Mrs. Anna Margretha 1135
Michel, Casper J 1003
Michel, Frank Joseph 1235
Miller, L. F 590
Miller, Mark J 853
Miller, Solomon Page 659
Mills, Frank L 1159
Mills, James William 1008
Minden, August Edward 1136
Minden, C. J. Henrv 1136
Minden, John A 1218
Mix, F. L 1104
Monson, Earl E 780
Montna. Peri 1203
Moon, Wesley Abel 820
Mooney, Thomas 983
Moore, Fred S 775
Moore, Thomas Jefferson 468
More, John Wesley 741
More, Mrs. Mao<- E 741
Morehead, Franklin Foley 400
Morley, Harold J ". 888
Morrison, David 683
Morrison, Hugh A 1303
Morrison, J. Eugene 1308
Morrison, James H 860
Morrison, John Hobson 649
Morrissev, James M 627
Muck, Charles 687
Mudgette, Rose F 1026
Mudgette, Sidney William 1026
Mullin, William "T 756
Murchie, Durrell H., D. D. S 1225
Murphy, Matthew B 1283
Murray, Mrs. Annie B 319
Murray, George A 1298
Murray, James 319
N
Nail, Ira E 1212
Nance, James M 1162
Nash, Fred A 1325
Nelson, Mrs. Elna 882
Nelson, Eric 882
Nelson, James F 571
Nelson, John Walter 1315
Newbert, William L 868
Newman, David 1 875
Newman, Sarah E 875
Nicholau, Charles 1321
Niemeyer, William II 654
Niesen, William P 955
Nix, Mrs. Lillie May 864
Noronha, Henry Reis 437
Norris, William Kent 1313
Noyes, E. A 368
Noyes, Fred B 431
Nunes, William Souza 1215
Nutt, Arthur Francis 1 140
Nutt, George Ernest 1143
Nutt, Margaret L 1 143
Nutt, Samuel Doty 1143
O
Oakley, Amasa George 477
O'Brien, James 1091
O'Brien, William A 1249
O'Connor, Howard 1242
O'Connor, Neal 1237
Ohlever, George 464
Ohlever, George, Sr 320
Olsen, Arthur J 1153
Olson, Aaron 867
Olson, Albert Theodore 1304
Olson, Per 667
O'Neil, John 1298
Onken, William F 1079
Onstott, George W 416
Onstott, John Paxton 388
Onstott, Lizzie Flvnn 388
Ostrom, George W 1191
Ottney, Garth H 446
P
Palmer, John E 1233
Parks, William H 892
Payton, Henrv Burtt 829
Payton, Nora A 829
Pease, Leroy 1219
Pease, Mark 456
Pease, Mark, Jr 1226
Peckham, Thomas W 838
Peirano, Rose 559
Peirano, Thomas William 559
Pendola, James William 935
Percy, A. J 348
Perry, Aaron 1096
Peters, Charles P 1314
Peters, Claus 723
Peters, John F 539
Peterson, Charles M 695
Peterson, Peter 915
Peterson, William T 1268
Phelan, Charles . . 1278
Pieratt, Louis Franklin 706
Pierce, Mrs. Mary A 463
Plantz, Timothy" A 1287
Plaskett, James Edman 903
Poffenberger, Hazekiah 396
Poole, Frank D 1167
Poole, Frank W 1260
Poole, James D 676
Poole, Samuel G 72S
Poole, William C 1216
Potts, William 1267
Powell, Charles H 608
Price, George Lewis 596
Probst, Barbara W 1047
Probst, Jacob 1047
Proper, Edward Eugene 968
Pugsley, Charles 1296
Purinton. James Parker 1206
Q
Queen, Hugh S 1180
Quenell, E. William 508
16
INDEX OF NAMES— BIOGRAPHICAL
R
Rackerby, Paul A 1120
Rednall, Charles F 611
Reed, C. Wesley 692
Reed, Howard 1227
Reeves, Edward Everette 643
Rehermann, Herman 1325
Reimers, O. J 1143
Reische, C. P 727
Reische, Frederick T 964
Reische, Samuel E 1314
Reissinger, Michel 633
Reusser, Gottfried 675
Reusser, Sophia D 675
Richards, George William 1083
Rickerts, John R 1007
Rideout, Norman Dunning 1188
Robinson, James W 915
Robson, Andrew A 1107
Robson, Mrs. Deborah 1025
Ross, James Alex 1183
Rowe, Pleasant William 593
Rudge, Harry 1318
Ruff, Miss Ida 960
Russ, William Henry 767
Russell, John 526
Ruth, Daniel B 427
S
Sanders, John H 842
Sanders, Mrs. M. A 404
Sanders, William 404
Sanford, Wallace J 1208
Sartori, Victor 995
Scheiber, Ambrose Emil 916
Scheiber, Anna Theresa 930
Scheiber, Catherine L 936
Scheiber, Emma M 854
Scheiber, John 930
Scheiber, Morris 854
Scheiber, Oswald 936
Scheiber, Rose Katherine 916
Schellenger, Adelbert Edmond. . .. 680
Schlag, Josephine (Whvler) 650
Schloss, Rose 1282
Schmidt, Andreas C. H 1266
Schmidt, Erich 470
Schoch, Frank B 1224
Schuler, Elmer C 1234
Schultz, August 723
Schultz, William J 394
Schwall, Peter 999
Scott, Arthur H 1269
Scott, Arthur Winfield 1276
Scott, Charles R., Sr 823
Scott, Dwight Sanford 1076
Scott, Louis Nelson 450
Selinger, Charles 584
Shannon, Grover C 1205
Shearer, William 971
Shepard, W. J 378
Shields, Marshall R 636
Silva, Manuel E 1062
Simpson, Mrs. Elizabeth A 515
Slingsby, Mrs. Mary 489
Slingsby, William 484
Smith, Calvin Alexander 1281
Smith, Chester A 720
Smith, Edwin M 462
Smith, Frank Edward 497
Smith, James William 801
Smith, Thomas L 495
Snygg, Simon P 1228
Soderlund, Noack 785
Soderlund, Noah Edwin 1011
Sorensen, Marianne 955
Sorensen, Soren A 955
Southern, Miss Fannie E 413
Sowles, John W 1259
Spencer, Allan Thomas 1061
Spencer, Carl Ray 925
Sperbeck, Jacob F 1277
Spring, Gardiner Whittier 921
Springer, Samuel 1213
Srite, Mary Olive 1 186
Staas, August 1309
Stafford, William H 577
Stagner, Albert C 475
Stagner, Mrs. Louise C 475
Stam, George John 1131
Starr, Roy D 1297
Stephens, William L, M. D 700
Stewart, Desseau Arthur 490
Stohlman, Charles Henry 816
Stohlmann, Henry 606
Stohlmann, Louis C 606
Stoker, Mrs. Elizabeth J 416
Stoker, George Smith 1271
Stoker, Jesse Albert 1214
Stolp, Cornelius 432
Stottlemyer, Emeral Hanford 461
Strain, James Edward 399
Straub, William Asburv 646
Sugg, A. C. . 1318
Sullivan, Daniel Francis 462
Sullivan, James Thomas 845
Sullivan, Jeremiah Peter 984
Summy, Charles 422
' Summy, G. William 772
Sumner, Charles N 1294
Sutfin, Willis A 1004
Sutter Union High School 921
Sweeney, B. M 576
Swift, Clarence Eugene 1057
Swift, John Pierce 1165
Syvertsen, Thomas A 545
T
Taffinder, Robert Albert 1234
Tapley, Fred Bovd, M. D 501
Taresh, John 1099
Tarke, Louis 786
Tarke, Nancy E 786
Taylor, Cary Peebles 1075
Taylor, Clyde 1280
Taylor, Thomas J 516
Thalls, Charles H 469
Tharp, Charles H 1135
Tharp, Harvejr 1311
Tharp, William Monroe 1079
Thompson, George . . 371
Todd, M. M 528
Todd, Nelson F 425
Travis, Cyrus E 988
Trevathan, Thomas William 1239
Triplett, Claude 771
Troncatty, James Sebastian 1223
Trowbridge, L. D . 1200
Tubbs, Dr. G. Parker 1103
INDEX OF NAMES— BIOGRAPHICAL
17
Tucker, Judge W. E 569
Turner, Charles 727
Turner, Mrs. Susie 727
U
Ullrey, Bertie Miles 792
Ullrey, Clyde T 705
Ury. George Murray 1150
V
Vagedes, Antone 1520
Vagedes, John Henry Theodore. . . 576
Van Buskirk, Henry 1003
Van Lew, Fred 582
Van Male, J. J., M. D 656
Van Tiger, Roy J 1019
Velasco, Joseph Alfred 1111
Vestal, J. H 1238
Vieira, Mariano P 716
Vineyard, William B 734
Vogan, Charles E 684
W
Wadsworth, Edson Schuyler 621
Wadsworth, Leo Ainslie 621
Walker, John William 1054
Walkup, Claude V 791
Wallace, Orlain W 1131
Walsh, John E 833
Walsh, William P 1179
Walton, Harry A 455
Wanzer, James Olin 360
Ward, William W 841
Watson, John W 929
Watson, Stanley Efkin 798
Weber, M. J.. ." 1288
Weber, Nicholas J., Jr 775
Weis, Charles J 1319
Welch, James Chester 1166
Welch. Mrs. Lillie E 1166
Weldon, Augustus L. and Harry P.. 1182
Wellman, Aaron Sargent 1153
Wellman, Miles 1 153
Wells, William S 1286
Wessing, G. A U65
Wheaton, Allan Given 724
White, Mrs. Amanda Catherine 396
White, Arthur H 1274
Whiteside, Mrs. Louisa 1045
Whiteside, Orlo 1043
Wiget, Dominie 1184
Wilcoxon, Lewis Boyd 483
Wilcoxon, Noah J 688
Wilcoxon, Strother E 360
Wilkie, John 458
Wilkinson, J. Augustus 538
Williams, Lowell Cortez 599
Williams, Thomas J., Sr 643
Willis, Harvev Ray 1210
Wilson, John Bell 1240
Winship, Chester Douglas 1305
Winship, Edwin 588
Winship, Foster E 776
Wise, John A 1199
Wisner, Calvin Sylvester 589
Wisner, Marvin E 589
Wissler, Ed L 904
Wood, Arthur M 1 185
Wood, Joseph 588
Worth, James A 1176
Wright, Aden J 895
Wright, Mrs. Mary 895
Wurm, Herman A 1211
Y
Young, Jacob 645
Young, James Redmond 1311
Yuhre, William F 1192
Z
Zbinden Gottfried 1040
Zerga, Antone 621
Zwanck, Arnold Emil 1307
. INTRODUCTORY 37
The object of -this work is to give a connected history of the Counties
of Yuba and Sutter from their first occupation by the Indians and trappers
down to the present time. For the very earliest data the editor wishes to
give credit to William H. Chamberlain, Ph. B., and Harry L. Wells, who
compiled a highly creditable history of the territory in the late seventies.
In gathering the later story of Yuba County we have received much informa-
tion from Eugene P. McDaniel, present judge of the superior court of Yuba
County ; from Fred H. Greely, the present auditor and recorder ; and from
Airs. John C. Dooley, daughter of a pioneer of Yuba County, who has a diary
kept by her father, the late Joseph Brown, during the days he was on the
emigrant trail "crossing the plains," and after his arrival here. The compiler
also wishes to acknowledge courtesies extended by C. Stephen Howser,
member of the Marysville police force, who has a collection of the directories
of the City of Marysville issued from time to time in the Argonaut days.
Lewis B. AYilcoxon, present agent for the Masonic order in Marysville, also
has helped, in giving the early history of that .organization in Yuba County.
On the Sutter side of the river, the compiler received invaluable aid from
Miss Ada Ohleyer, daughter of George Ohleyer, the pioneer defender of the
farmers during hydraulic mining days. Miss Ohleyer is actively in charge
of the landmarks section of the Federated Women's Clubs of the northern
district, and is performing excellent work along that line. Miss Edna
Hewitt, county librarian in Yuba City, also has the thanks of the editor for
suggestions and help. C. E. McQuaid, county assessor and former news-
paper man, also has been of service. To County Horticultural Commissioner
Harry P. Stabler, the editor is indebted for data of a highly interesting nature.
As was said in the prospectus to this volume, "What a team are Yuba
and Sutter Counties ! Sutter County matching her golden flow of fruit with
the fruitful flow of Yuba County's gold each, year certainly makes a com-
bination of resources difficult to parallel. It means that this wonderful sec-
tion shall always be an empire in itself, independent, if the test came,
of all the world."
PETER J. DELAY.
Marysville, Yuba County, California.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
CHAPTER I
THE DAYS OF THE INDIAN AND TRAPPER
The contiguity of Yuba and Sutter Counties renders the record of their
early settlement almost inseparable. However, it will be the aim of the
compiler of this history to treat these remarkable sections separately.
California has no more historic county than Yuba, of which the Citv of
Marysville has virtually always been the county seat. During- the exciting-
times of the mining fever, the reputation of its wonderful riches spread far
and wide, and it received its full share of the immense immigration which
poured into the State during that memorable period. Marysville early occu-
pied a prominent position among the cities of the Coast, both in population
and in the extent of its mercantile interests.
Yuba County was an uncultivated tract of plain and mountains, occupied
by the lowly Digger Indian and traversed occasionally by the nomadic trap-
per employed by American and foreign fur companies, when Capt. John A.
Sutter, original white owner of the tract, first knew it. That was in 1841,
at a time. when the southern portion of California was essentially Spanish
and Mexican in its population — the northern part being left to the occupation
of foreigners. Not until Captain Sutter began his activities in the northern
end of what was destined to become the great Pacific Coast commonwealth,
and not until he established his New Helvetia, did the Sacramento Valley
attract attention. Until then it went comparatively unnoticed. Following
his entry, however, it became the theater for grand operations and achieve-
ments. Sutter's Fort became the nucleus about which congregated nearly
all of the early emigrants. To the influence of Captain Sutter and those
associated with him, is largely due the annexation of California to the Union.
It is deemed fitting at this stage of our story to give a brief history
of the ever hospitable and generous Sutter, friend of all the early settlers
and explorers, the man to whom they repaired for advice and sustenance.
His name is inseparable from even the' slightest historical reference to either
Yuba or Sutter County.
Tohn Augustus Sutter was born in Baden, Germany, at midnight.
February 28, 1803. of Swiss parents. After the completion of his education
he became a captain in the French army; hence his military title. Becoming-
tired of the superficial nature of French society and customs, he set out for
America, to find some secluded spot where he might surround himself with
a home and associations more in consonance with his ideas and tastes. Aew
York was reached in July, 1834; and from there, after a sojourn of only one
month, the Captain set out for the far-famed "West." He journeyed to New
Mexico, and having heard of the marvelous beauty and fertility of California,
he joined a party of trappers, expecting soon to reach his destination. But
the journey ended at Fort Vancouver, and Captain Sutter's only wax In
reach California was to go to the Sandwich Islands and from there by a
40 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
sailing vessel to Monterey. After waiting a long time in Honolulu he took
passage in a ship bound for Sitka. By singular good luck the vessel was
driven into San Francisco Bay, July 2, 1839.
Having reached the goal of his ambition, Captain Sutter received per-
mission from the Mexican authorities to select a place for settlement in the
Sacramento Valley. After much difficulty he succeeded in reaching the
junction of the Sacramento and American Rivers on the 16th of August, 1839.
and being fully satisfied with the conditions and prospects of the region,
a location was made, and he commenced the construction of a house.
The spot was named "New Helvetia" in honor of his mother country.
But on account of the strength, armament and formidable appearance of
the buildings, the place was called by all the early settlers "Sutter's Fort,"
which name is now the only one that clings to it. This fort was commenced
in 1842 and finished in 1844. In 1841, when his grant of deed was to be
made, it became necessary to have a map of the tract, and he employed for
that purpose Capt. Jean Vioget, a seaman, and a Swiss by birth. The survey
was made by lines of latitude and longitude. Sutter made his application
under this survey in 1841, the same year the map was completed. The
Mexican laws allowed only eleven leagues to be granted to any one person,
but Sutter's map contained fifty leagues or more. Nevertheless, he got the
idea he could hold it, and with this came the idea he could sell it. The
original claim embraced a considerable portion of Sacramento and Placer
Counties, all of Sutter, the valley portion of Yuba, and a little point of
Colusa. It was in this same year, 1841, that John Bidwell, later the founder
of Chico in Butte County, and Michael C. Nye, who played a prominent
part in the early history of Yuba County, came to California from Independ-
ence, Mo., with thirty-four others, seven of whom returned to Missouri,
and died there.
Little of note occurred in the valley during 1842, but during the next
two years Captain Sutter and his newly formed friend, John Bidwell. saw
the monotony — if there was such thing in those days — relieved. It was
in 1843 that General Micheltorena, an "enlightened and educated gentleman
and an agreeable personage, arrived from Mexico to take the place of Alvarado
as Governor of California. Rightly anticipating trouble, Micheltorena would
not consent to act as Governor without the presence of troops. The Mexican
government sent him 500 trained soldiers. Captain Sutter, learning of the
presence of the new Governor, sent him a congratulatory message. In due
time Micheltorena went to Monterey and made it his capital. A very
friendly correspondence sprang up between the Governor and Captain
Sutter. The latter had never seen Micheltorena, although he had been in
frecpient correspondence ; hence, in the fall of 1844 he concluded to make
him a visit at Monterey, and accordingly started upon the journey accom-
panied by two persons, John Bidwell of Chico being one. They traveled
on horseback, crossing the San Joaquin River on improvised rafts, and camp-
ing out every night, except one in San Jose. It was there that the Captain
heard of a revolt brewing among the native Mexicans, and he was first
to convey the intelligence to Governor Micheltorena; and while the party
was there, the first blow was struck. This convinced Sutter and Bidwell
that they had better return north. Sutter, on his return, put his fort in
a more secure state of defense, as was usual upon an uprising of the natives.
The native Californians desired the possession of the country and the
formation of an independent republic ; but their leanings were against the
Americans, and more prejudiced, in fact, than were the Mexicans themselves.
It was to the interest of Governor Micheltorena to encourage the settlement
in the country of intelligent and energetic foreigners ; hence he was friendly
disposed toward that class.. In the struggle going on at that time, the
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 41
majority of the Americans were on his side, because hostility toward the
government meant hostility to American interests. The other foreigners
naturally took sides with the Americans, and any on the opposing- side
were, in the nature of the case, extremely obnoxious.
One Capt. C. M. Weber, however, was one American who took sides
with and aided the leaders of the Mexican malcontents against Governor
Micheltorena ; and he carried the insurrection so far as to proceed to Sutter's
Fort and attempt to stir up dissatisfaction among the occupants. In case
of any disturbance in the political affairs of the country, the foreigners, for
miles around, assembled at the fort for mutual protection. Captain 'Weber,
even after being cautioned, continued in his insurrectionary work, until
finally the occupants of the fort held a meeting and, after consultation, framed
and signed the following document:
"We, the subscribers, chosen as a Council of War, have unanimously
resolved the following: First, that Mr. Weber be put in irons and detained
in the fort. New Helvetia, until such time as we may receive orders from
his Excellency, the Governor, as regards his disposal ; Second, that Mr.
Pearson B. Reading be requested to keep Mr. Weber in a convenient room
and afford him such necessaries as circumstances may admit of and his safe
detention may require."
The sentence and instructions were not carried out in full, but Weber
was closely watched and guarded.
Micheltorena appealed to Sutter for assistance, which he agreed to
render in view of certain advantages to be derived by himself and the foreign
residents in the vicinity. The conditions imposed by Sutter, who was the
magistrate in this region, were that every petition for a grant of land
which he as justice should approve, was to be taken as granted, and that
a copy of the general title which the Governor then confirmed should be
considered as binding as a formal grant.
Sutter started south with one hundred men, and was met at the resi-
dence of Dr. Marsh, near Mt. Diablo, by J. Alexander Forbes, who in vain
tried to dissuade him from his undertaking'. The result was that when the
nostile armies met, the foreigners were found on both sides, and, after a
consultation, withdrew, leaving the Mexicans to fight out their quarrel
alone. Micheltorena was defeated, and compelled to return to Mexico:
Sutter was captured by the insurgent leader, Castro, and only given his
liberty upon the personal interposition of Weber and others, to whom Castro
was under obligations for assistance.
The country now being in the hands of the native Californians, the
California "Deputation" declared Pio Pico Governor. Castro, not relishing
this selection, renewed his acts of dissension ; but his plans were frustrated
by the appearance of John C. Fremont on his second exploring expedition
in March, 1846. Fremont had reached Sutter's Fort in 1844 and at that
early date was known as "The Pathfinder," being bent on establishing a
transcontinental trail from the East to the Pacific Coast. This time Fremont
came down the Humboldt River, directing the larger part of his exploring
party to bear to the south until they came to a certain pass which he imag-
ined to exist there, and await his orders, while he, with about eight men,
followed the emigrant trail (which now had an existence) into California.
He came up the Truckee River, and down the north side of the Bear River.
At the time when General Bidwell's party crossed over the mountains, in
1841, there was as yet no trail in existence.
Castro, having given Fremont permission to pass through the San
Joaquin Valley, soon proved untrue to his promise and ordered Fremont t<>
leave. The explorer was obliged to fortify himself on Hawks' Peak, thirty
42 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
miles from Monterey. Castro's forces appeared, but beyond a few mock
assaults, did no fighting-; so that on the fourth day Fremont deemed it
expedient to avoid actual collision, and slowly marched north toward Oregon.
Having passed the border, he was overtaken by Lieutenant Gillespie, an
army officer, with despatches, the contents of which, together with the exist-
ing state of affairs, caused him to return. Passing down the Sacramento
Valley, he encamped for a time in the Buttes, in Sutter County. The spot
in the Buttes where Fremont camped now bears a marker telling of the
history attending it. This marker was placed on Sunday, April 15, 1923,
during a "landmark" celebration conducted under the auspices of the Sutter-
Yuba Bi-County Federation of Women's Clubs. The parlors of the Native
Sons and Native Daughters of Marysville took part in the program, which
was arranged by Miss Ada Ohleyer, daughter of George Ohleyer, pioneer
of Sutter County and newspaper man in his lifetime in Yuba City. Miss
Ohleyer was aided by Miss Edna Hewitt, then librarian in Sutter County's
free library, and by the chairmen of History and Landmarks in the Bi-
County and District Federations of Women's Clubs. The marker consists
of a bronze tablet fittingly engraved and attached to a huge boulder on the
DeWitt place, not far from Sutter City. Many organizations of Yuba and
Sutter Counties took part in the celebration over the placing of the marker,
and there were many visitors from adjoining counties at the behest of the
civic and commercial bodies of Marysville and Yuba City. A more detailed
account of the celebration is given in a later chapter devoted to the work
of the women's clubs, in the History of Sutter County.
Fremont, while camped in the Buttes, was informed by a Mr. Knight
that a party of Mexican soldiers, under Lieutenant De Arce, in charge of
a band of horses, were traveling from Sonoma to the southern county.
Fremont immediately sent out a party, which, after passing Sutter's Fort,
and without the knowledge of Captain Sutter or any consultation with him,
attacked the Mexicans on the Cosumnes River, on June 11, capturing the
horses and sending Lieutenant De Arce and his men to report to Castro.
The movement was claimed to be in de'fense of the American settlers, but
the real facts in the case were that no settler ever implored Fremont for
aid. All Americans believed, it is true, that the territory should come
under the control of the United States ; but they desired the change to be
brought about by peaceful measures. The hunters who usually wintered
at Sutter's Fort were the first to rally around Fremont's camp. Sutter
having at one time complained of the acts of Fremont, the latter came
down and told the generous old pioneer that if he did not like what he
(Fremont) was doing, he would send him across the San Joaquin River
and he could join the Mexicans. Tuthill, in his "History of Califorina,"
states that the party who attacked Lieutenant De Arce were under the
leadership of Captain Merritt, and that they were the persons who marched
on Sonoma and formed the nucleus of the "Bear Flag Party."
Following this assault on the Mexicans and the acts of the "Bear Flag
Party," Castro retreated to Los Angeles, and was promptly followed by
Fremont. Before any action occurred, the news of the raising of the Stars
and Stripes at Monterey by Commodore Sloat was heralded. Then followed
a series of conflicts, mostly of slight importance, the battles in California
being supplementary to the war in the East and South. After the war
was ended, it became necessary for the conquering forces to appoint a
Governor. A contest ensued as to whether Lieutenant Fremont, who had
received a commission from Commodore Stockton, or General Kearney
should be the ruler. It was finally ended when Fremont, under orders,
accompanied General Kearney upon his march East. At Fort Leavenworth
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 43
Fremont was arrested, and at Fortress Monroe a court martial found him
guilty of mutiny, disobedience and disorderly conduct, and he was by its
sentence deprived of his commission. This ended his connection with the
army, but did not serve to dampen his ambition, or to sully his reputation
as one to whom the gratitude of all American citizens is" clue.
The early settlements of Yuba and Sutter Counties were parts of a
series extending through nearly the whole Sacramento Valley, and an
account of the most important will doubtless prove interestino-". Sutter's
map included a much larger area than the Mexican laws would allow, and
in order to hold the land he placed tenants on various portions of the terri-
tory embraced within its limits. Subsequently, when it was thought that
he could not hold all the land applied for, he endeavored to obtain a sobrante
grant for his children ; and this was partly the motive that induced him
to visit Governor Micheltorena at Monterey in 1844.
After the settlement at Xew Helvetia, the next point where a dwellino-
was located was about two miles northeast of the fort, on the American
River, in 1841. This location was made by John Sinclair for Capt. Elias
Grimes and Hiram Grimes, to whom Sutter afterwards sold it. It made a
fine ranch and farm, and was extensively stocked.
In 1842. Nicolaus Allgeier was placed on what is known as the town
of Nicolaus on the east bank of the Feather River.
The next two places were settled almost simultaneously in the fall of
1842. Hock Farm, which subsequently became the home of Captain Sutter,
was established and made his principal stock farm, the animals ranging
over that part- of Sutter County lying west of the Feather River and south
of the Butte Mountains. The land in the vicinity of the site of Marys-
ville was leased to Theodore Cordua. Cordua made a stock farm of it,
and, to a limited extent, a trading post. He obtained a few otter and
beaver skins, and was continually passing to and from Yerba Buena, trad-
ing, in his launch. The settlement of George Patterson on the opposite
side of the Yuba River, in 1845, was another of .these locations in the interest
of Sutter, to hold the land.
The next grant was made to Charles YY Flugge, and was located on
the west bank of the Feather River adjoining the northern portion of
Sutter's grant and called the "Flugge Grant." It fell into the hands, by
purchase, of Thomas O. Lawton, as did also the Hernandez Grant. Larkin
tried to locate the Flugge Grant in the mining regions, but failed. Sicard's
Grant (four leagues) and Johnson's Grant (four leagues) on Bear River.
were secured in 1844. About the same time, grants were made to the
present site of Vacaville, and to various other points located in Yolo, Butte,
and Tehama Counties.
The bottom lands of Yuba and Sutter Counties offered special induce-
ments to settlers, on account of their fertility and their contiguity to Sutter's
settlements. Having obtained from Captain Sutter, in the fall of 1842, a
lease for nineteen years of the tract of land upon which Marysville is now
located. Theodore Cordua erected, at what is now the foot of D Street,
an adobe dwelling house, a storehouse or trading room, culinary depart-
ment and outhouses. The walls of the dwelling were thick, and well con-
structed for withstanding a siege. The spot was named "New Mecklen-
burg" by Captain Sutter, in honor of the place of nativity of Cordua. It soon
became known, however, as "Cordua's Ranch." the neighboring settlers
choosing the latter title in preference to the more European name. Many
of the Indians in the vicinity gathered about Cordua, and he was able to
utilize them in herding his animals, in tilling the soil, and in gathering
the products. Their village was located near where the railroad crosses
44 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
the Yuba River. On December 30, 1844, Cordua obtained from the Mexican
government a grant of land bounded on the north by the Feather River
and Honcut Creek, on the east by the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains,
on the south by the Yuba River, and by the tract of land previously leased
from Captain Sutter, and on the west by the same land and the Feather
River, embracing about seven square leagues.
Cordua's house was located on the trail leading from the upper to the
lower portion of the Sacramento Valley ; and as the country became more
closely settled, travel on this route became more extensive, until finally,
in 1846, Cordua conceived the idea of establishing a trading post at his
adobe structure. Provisions and supplies were brought from Yerba Buena
and the lower settlements in the valley, which, with the products of his
own land and flocks, enabled him to provide a suitable stock for his store.
It is said that in 1847 and 1848 he exported to the Sandwich Islands a large
quantity of the products of his farm. He soon found abundant opportunity
to dispose of all he could produce in a nearer market — a change brought
about by the discovery of gold. In the summer of 1847, when William G.
Murphy, father of the present deputy postmaster of Marysville, arrived at
the ranch, Cordua had in his employ fifteen or twenty Indians and white
men, among whom was Charles Covillaud, who acted as mechanic and
overseer. At that time Cordua had about 10,000 or 12,000 cattle and 500
wild mares. The latter were used for raising colts, while their luxuriant
manes and tails furnished material for "hair ropes." The bottom lands
near the buildings were cultivated to a small extent.
Theodore Sicard was a French sailor, and first came to California on
a voyage in 1835. Later he decided to remain in the country. He worked
for Captain Sutter at one time, in 1842 and 1843, superintending the opera-
tions at Hock Farm in Sutter County. He petitioned for, and obtained
from the Mexican government, a grant of four Spanish leagues, extending
from opposite the north of Dry Creek ten miles up the south side of Bear
River. His settlement was made in 1845, and was on the south bank of
Bear River, about half a mile above Johnson's Crossing. In 1844, a Mexican,
Don Pablo Gutierrez, who had been in the employ of Captain Sutter,
obtained a grant of five leagues on the north side of Bear River, now
known as the Johnson Grant, at the center of which is now the city of
Wheatland, often referred to as the "Hop Center of Yuba County." During
this year, Gutierrez built a mud house at the place afterwards called John-
son's Crossing. Gutierrez was killed late in 1844, or early in 1845, and his
grant and cattle were sold at auction by Captain Sutter, as magistrate of
the region, being purchased for $150 by William Johnson and Sebastian
Kyser, who settled there the same year. Johnson was a sailor who had
made voyages to California quite early, and for several years previous to
this purchase had traded between the Sandwich Islands and Yerba Buena.
Kyser had gone with Captain Sutter from Missouri, accompanying him
on his wandering tour from that State to New Mexico and up to Oregon ;
here he remained while the Captain went on to the Sandwich Islands.
When Sutter arrived in California, in 1839, Kyser came down from Oregon
and again entered the service of his old employer. After the purchase,
the grant was divided, Johnson taking the east half, and Kyser the west.
In 1846, they built an adobe house below the crossing.
In 1845, George Patterson settled on the south side of the Yuba River,
opposite Cordua's ranch, under a lease from Captain Sutter, and constructed
an adobe house. He cultivated some land and dug a ditch, which at that
period was the substitute for a fence. Jack Smith at one time lived with
Patterson on this grant. This was known as "Sutter's Garden," and the
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 45
occupation of the tract was made by his proxy, Patterson. The soil was
cultivated only sufficiently to comply with the laws under whose terms
land was held.
During the year 1845, Charles Roether, a German, settled on the north
side of Honcut Creek, in Butte County, one-half mile from the stream and
about two miles from its mouth.
Jack Smith, an old sailor, who had been in Sutter's employ, obtained
from him in 1844 a grant of land on the south side of Yuba River, extending
from the site of Linda three miles up the stream and one mile back. He
settled there in 1845, and built a cabin on the location of the subsequent town
of Linda. In 1846, Smith sold the center mile of this tract to George
Patterson. The purchaser had come to California in 184-1, in one of the
ships belonging to the Hudson Bay Company. He escaped from the vessel
at night and took refuge on Goat Island in San Francisco Bay. An attempt
was made that night by John Rose to rescue him in a boat, but it was
unsuccessful. Patterson found his way to this valley and entered the employ
of Sutter. In 1847, Michael Nye purchased a portion of the Sutter grant
adjoining Smith on the west. The tract was one mile in extent along the
south bank of the stream, and one and one-half miles in depth. In the
latter part of 1847, when William G. Murphy moved from Cordua's ranch
to Nye's place, Nye had 700 head of cattle, and Smith, 800; in partnership
they owned 150 wild horses. The house occupied by Smith was of peculiar
construction. Ends of stout poles were sunk into the ground, and willows
interwoven horizontally, forming a sort of basket work ; a heavy coating
of soft clay was placed on both sides and the roof thatched with tules
brought from Nicolaus. The floor was constructed of sunburned brick
and earth pounded down firm and smooth. A coat of whitewash was the
only covering of the bare and unsightly walls. Nye built his dwelling in
1847, making a more pretentious and commodious structure of two rooms.
The walls were thick and constructed of adobe ; the roof was covered with
split shakes, brought from the river bottom opposite Cordua Ranch.
On October 18, 1846, there arrived at Bear River a company of emi-
grants, several members of which were to play important parts in the
settlement and development of Yuba and Sutter Counties. Of these, Claude
Chana, late of Wheatland, was one of the leading spirits. Born in the
department of Rouen, France, in 1811, he came to New Orleans, arriving
on March 7, 1839, where he worked as a cooper. He was one of the first
settlers of the town of St. Joseph, Mo., where he settled in 1841. While
there, he heard from an old trapper who had been through the Sacramento
Valley, of the wonderful climate of California and of the flourishing settle-
ment of John A. Sutter. In 1846 he sold his property in St. Joseph to
this trapper and joined a train that was crossing the plains. This train
consisted of 500 wagons and over 1000 men. They crossed the Missouri
River on May 10, 1846. The train contained emigrants for Oregon, Utah,
California and other destinations. The emigrants organized into compa-
nies, according to the place of their destination, Mr. Chana being in what
was called the California Company, and this party led the train. In 1846
Charles Covillaud, who was a member of the same company, and Michael
Nye, a member of General Bidwell's party, entered the employ of Cordua;
Chana, who had brought his cooper tools, went to work for Sutter, at the
fort, making water tanks, barrels, churns, pails, etc., for settlers through-
out the whole valley.
In 1847, Baptiste Rouelle, the discoverer of gold in the mountains near
the Mission of San Fernando, settled near Sutter's Garden on the south
bank of the Yuba River. During the spring of 1S47. the survivors of the
46 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
Dormer party arrived, many remaining at the settlements in this vicinity;
among these were the members of the Murphy family, a direct descendant
of which family, Ernest Murphy, is at present a resident of Marysville,
and occupies the position of deputy postmaster of the city.
The contiguity of Yuba and Sutter Counties, we here repeat, renders
the record of their early settlement almost inseparable, and to fully appre-
ciate the situation of affairs during that period, it is well to understand
the relative locations in Sutter County. There were only two settlements
of note in that county up to 1848 — at Hock Farm and Nicolaus. At Hock
Farm, after its location, lived Theodore Sicard and a man named Dupont.
In the spring of 1843, John Bidwell went up to take charge of the farm.
He built the house during the summer, the adobes being made on the place.
Sicard and Dupont sawed boards for its construction out of the cotton-
wood trees. These were the only white men there until near the close of
the year, when J. C. Bridges came from Kentucky ; he died during the
winter. On Hock Farm, Sutter had about 5000 head of cattle and 1200
horses. He. employed about twenty-five Indian vaqueros in herding the
animals and breaking horses. General Bidwell remained there fourteen
months, to the early part of the summer of 1844, and during that time
planted some trees and otherwise improved the spot. William Bennitz
then took charge and continued there for a year, to the summer of 1845.
Major Hensley followed, remaining until the spring of 1846, when nearly
all of Sutter's force went into the Mexican War, the farm being left in the
charge of "Yankee Jim," a Kanaka, whom Captain Sutter had brought
from the "Islands." It was not until the spring of 1850, after the discovery
of gold, that Sutter moved to Hock Farm. His fort was so occupied with
traders, that every available room was taken, and every suitable place was
in demand for the numerous stores to supply the rush of miners to the min-
ing districts. Peter H. Burnett was left as Sutter's agent for the sale of lots
in Sacramento, and when the former was elected Governor, H. A. Schoolcraft
was appointed in his place. Burnett received a commission of 25 per cent
for effecting sales and making deeds. Sutter fixed up the house on Hock
Farm and built the iron structure. It was erected for a storehouse, and
was bought from parties who had brought it "around the Horn."
In 1842, as mentioned above, Nicolaus Allgeier was settled at the loca-
tion of the present town of Nicolaus. This gentleman was born in Freiberg,
Germany, in 1807, and came to America about 1830. He went into the
employ of the Hudson Bay Company as a trapper, and in that capacity
spent a number of years in the wilds of British America. It was while in
this service, in 1839 or 1840, that he came overland to California. A short
time after his arrival here, he left the employ of the company and engaged
to work for Captain Sutter. He assisted in the construction of an adobe
house, about one and one-half miles below Hock Farm, in the winter of
1841-1842. This was Sutter's first establishment in Sutter County, and the
first settlement of any kind made in this vicinity. The plains between
the Sacramento and Feather Rivers were used by Sutter as a grazing
range for immense bands of horses and cattle. The road from his estab-
lishment at New Helvetia to the one at Hock Farm crossed the river at
Nicolaus, and Sutter desired some one stationed at that point with a ferry
to assist in the transportation of men, cattle, horses, supplies, etc., across
the stream. He therefore deeded to Allgeier a tract one mile scpiare at
that place, in consideration of the labor he had performed, and of the
services he should render in the future in the manner described, all valued
at $400. This land commenced 400 yards above the old adobe house and
extended one mile down the stream. When Allsreier first settled there in
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 49
1842, he built a small hut of poles covered with tule grass and dirt. In this
he lived for several years, until, in 1847, he constructed a small adobe house
near the old ferry crossing, about 150 yards above the landing recentlv
abandoned when, in 1921, a bridge was built by Sutter County as a sub-
stitute for the ferry. A primitive ferry-boat was constructed in 1843, which
the Indians rowed across in transacting the business of the crossing.
CHAPTER II
THE "TRAGEDY OF THE SIERRAS"
A history of Yuba Count}- without a chapter on the Donner Party, the
"Tragedy of the Sierras," would be incomplete, as a number of the survivors
of that awful experience were among the early settlers of this section.
"William G. Murphy, member of the Yuba County liar in the earlier days
of Marysville, and father of the present assistant postmaster of the city, was
one of the survivors of the Donner Party who located here. In the family
with Murphy were his mother and six children. C. G. McGlashan, in his
history of the Donner Part}-, says Murphy described to him how the party
at Donner Lake gathered up the old castaway bones of the cattle — bones
from which all the flesh had been previously picked — arid then boiled, and
boiled, and boiled them until they actually would crumble between the teeth
as they ate them. The little children playing upon the fire rug,in his moth-
er's cabin used to cut up little pieces of the rug, toast them crip upon the
coals, and then eat them. In this manner, before any one was fairly aware
of the fact, the fire rug was entirely consumed. -
Murphy saw the hides that had served over the cabins in lieu of shingles
taken down and eaten. The green rawhides were cut into strips and laid
upon the coals, or held in the flames, until the hair was completely singed off.
Either side of the piece of hide was then scraped with a knife until completely
cleansed, placed in a kettle, and boiled until soft and pulpy. There was no
salt and only a little pepper, and yet this unsavory substance was all that
stood between them and starvation. When cold, the boiled hides and the
water in which they were cooked became jellied and exactly resembled glue.
The tender stomachs of many of the children revolted at this disagreeable
diet, and the loathing they felt at sight of this substance persisted for a long
time in the minds of the survivors.
The terrible experiences of the Donner Party are given in TutTiill's
History of California, from which we quote :
"Of the overland emigration to California in 1846 about eighty wagons
took a new route, from Fort Bridger around the south end of Great Salt Lake.
The pioneers of the party arrived in good season over the mountains, but
Mr. Reeves' and Mr. Donner's companies opened a new route through the
desert, lost a month's time by their explorations, and reached the foot of the
"Truckee Pass" in the Sierras on October 31st instead of the first as intended.
The snow began to fall two or three weeks earlier than usual that year, and
was already so piled up in the pass that they could not proceed. They
attempted it repeatedly but were as often forced to return. One party built
their cabin near Truckee (afterward Donner) Lake, killed their cattle and
went into winter quarters. The other (Donner's party) still believed they
50 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
could tread the pass, and so failed to build their cabins before more snow-
came and buried their cattle alive. Of course they were soon destitute of
food, for they could not tell where the cattle were buried and there was no
hope of game on a desert so piled with snow that nothing without wings
could move. The number of those who were thus storm-stayed at the very
threshold of a land whose winters are one long spring, was eighty, of whom
thirty were women and children. The Mr. Donner who had charge of one
company was a native of Illinois, sixty years of age, and a man of high
respectability and abundant means. His wife was a woman of education
and refinement, and much younger than he.
"During November it snowed fifteen days ; during December and Jan-
uary, eight days each. Much of this time the props of the cabins were below
the snow level. It was six weeks after the halt was made that a party of
fifteen, including five women and two Indians, who acted as guides, set out
on snowshoes to cross the mountains and give notice to the people of Cali-
fornia settlements of the condition of their friends. At first the snow was so
light and feathery that even with snowshoes they sank nearly a foot at every
step. On the second day they crossed the 'divide,' finding the snow at the
summit twelve feet deep. Pushing forward with the courage of despair they
made from four to eight miles a day.
"Within a week they were entirely out of provisions, and three of them,
succumbing to cold, weariness and starvation, had died. Then a heavy snow-
storm came on, which compelled them to lie still, buried 'neath their blankets
under the snow for thirty-six hours. By evening of the tenth day three more
had died, and the living had been four days without food. The horrid alterna-
tive was accepted — they took flesh from the bones of their dead, remained in
camp two days to dry it, and then pushed on.
"On New-year's Day, the sixteenth day since leaving Truckee Lake,
they were toiling up a steep mountain. Their feet were frozen. Every step
was marked with blood. On the second of January their food again gave out.
On the third day they had nothing to eat but the strings of their snowshoes.
On the fourth the Indians deserted, suspicious that they might be sacrificed
for food. On the fifth one of the party shot a deer, and that day there was
another death. Soon after, three others died, and every death served to pro-
long the existence of the survivors. On the seventh all but one gave out.
concluding that their wanderings were useless. This one, guided by two
friendly Indians, dragged himself on until he reached a settlement on Bear
River. By midnight the settlers had found and were treating with all Chris-
tian kindness what remained of the little company that after a month of most
terrible sufferings, had halted to die.
"The story that there were emigrants perishing on the other side of the
snowy barrier ran swiftly down the Sacramento Valley to New Helvetia, and
Captain Sutter, at his own expense, fitted out an expedition of men and of
mules laden with provisions, to cross the mountains and relieve them. The
story ran to San Francisco ; and the people, rallying in public meeting, raised
$1500 and with it fitted out another expedition. The naval commandant of
the port fitted out others.
"The first of the relief parties reached Truckee Lake on the 19th of
February. Ten of the people in. the nearest camp were dead. For four days
those still alive had fed on bullocks' hides. At Donner's camp but one hide
lemained. The visitors left a small supply of provisions with the twenty-
nine whom the}' could not take with them and started back with the remain-
der. Four of the children they carried on their backs.
"Another of the relief parties reached the lake about the first of March.
They at once started back with seventeen of the sufferers ; but a heavv snow-
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 51
storm overtaking them, they left all, except three of the children, on the road.
Another party went after those left on the way, found three of them dead and
the rest sustaining life by eating the flesh of the dead.
"The last relief party reached Donner's camp late in April, when the
snows had melted so much that the earth appeared in spots. The main cabin
was empty, but some miles distant they found the last survivor of all lying
on the cabin floor smoking a pipe. He was ferocious in aspect, savage and
repulsive in manner. His camp kettle was over the fire, and in it his meai
of human flesh preparing. The stripped bones of his fellow sufferers lay
around him. He refused to return with the party, and only consented when
he saw there was no escape. Mrs. Jacob Donner was the last to die. Her
husband's body was found at his tent. Circumstances led to the suspicion
that the survivor had killed Mrs. Donner for the flesh and money, and when
he was threatened with hanging he produced $500, which he had probably
appropriated from her store."
Many books have been written on the subject, no two giving precisely
the same facts. One of the most interesting accounts is that of James F. Reed,
who for years was one of the prominent and reputable citizens of San Jose.
He left Springfield, 111., in the middle of 1846 and was accompanied by George
and Jacob Donner and their families. George Donner was elected captain.
At Fort Bridger, William McCutcheon, wife and family joined the partv.
Leaving the fort, they unfortunately took a new route, and had' man}- vicissi-
tudes, not the least being the loss of cattle. Other would-be settlers joined
them before they reached California. The narrative now continues in Air.
Reed's own words :
"After crossing the desert, it became known that some families had nut
enough provisions to carry them through. As a member of the company, I
advised them to make an estimate of the provisions on hand and what amount
each family would need. After receiving the estimate, I then suggested that
if two gentlemen of the company would volunteer to go in advance to Sutter's
Fort near Sacramento, I would write a letter to the Captain for the whole
amount of provisions wanted, also stating that I would become personally
responsible to him for the amount. I thought, from the generous character
of Captain Sutter, that provisions would be sent. Mr. McCutcheon came
forward and said that if they would take care of his family he would go. This
the company agreed to. Mr. Stanton, a single man, volunteered to go with
McCutcheon if they would furnish him with a horse. McCutcheon, having
a horse and mule, generously gave the mule. Taking blankets and provisions,
the two men started to California. After their leaving us we traveled for
weeks, none of us knowing how far we were from California, and soon all
became anxious to know wdiat had become of McCutcheon and Stanton. It
was now suggested that I go in advance to California and hurry up the sup-
plies. This was agreed to and I started, taking with me three days' provi-
sions, expecting to kill game on the way. The Messrs. Donner were two
days in advance of the party when I overtook them. With George Donner
there was a young man named Walter Herren, who joined me. With all the
economy I could use, our provisions gave out in a few days ; so I supplied our
wants by shooting wild geese and other game.
"The day after I was joined by Herren I proposed, as I had the only
horse, that he should ride half the time. The proposition was joyfully
accepted. Soon no game was to be seen, hunger began to be felt, and for
days we traveled without hope or help. We reached the Sierra Nevada
Mountains. I believed I could have made a stop here, hunted and found game.
But as this would have delayed our progress and success might not have
rewarded my hunting efforts, I kept on. The second day before we found
52 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
relief, Herren wanted to kill the horse. I persuaded him from the deed,
promising that if relief did not come soon I would kill the horse myself
Soon afterward he became, delirious. That afternoon I found a bean and gave
it to him, and then never was a road examined more closely than this one.
We found in all five-beans. Herren's share was three of them. We camped
that night in a patch of grass a short distance off the road. Next morning,
after traveling a few miles, we saw some deserted wagons.
"We soon reached and ransacked the wagons, hoping to find something
to eat, but found nothing. Taking the tar bucket that was hanging under
one of the wagons, I scraped the tar off and found a streak of rancid tallow
at the bottom. I remember well that when I announced what I had found,
Herren, who was sitting on a rock near by, got up hallooing with all the
strength he had and came to me. I handed the tar paddle to him. It had
on it some of the tallow about the size of a walnut. This he swallowed with-
out giving it a smell. I then took a piece myself, but it was very repulsive.
Herren craved more and I gave him another piece. Still wanting more, I
positively refused, stating that it would kill him. After leaving the wagons,
probably fifty yards, I became deadly sick and blind. In resting myseif
against a rock I leaned my head on the muzzle of my gun. Herren, seeing
my condition, came to me and said, 'My God, Mr. Reed, are you dying?'
After resting a few minutes I recovered, much to his joy.
"The wagons were within a short distance of the steep hill going down
into Bear Valley. After descending the first steep pitch, I discovered wagons
in the valley below us. 'Herren,' said I, 'there are wagons in the valley.'
When he saw them he gave vent to his joy, hallooing at the top of his voice ;
but on account of weakness he could not have been heard ten rods off. On
reaching the wagons we found several families of emigrants, who supplied us
with bread. I here met Mr. Stanton with two Indians, on his return to the
company with provisions supplied by Captain Sutter. Next morning they
started for the company and I went on to Sutter's Fort."
At the fort, Reed found McCutcheon, who had been prevented by illness
from accompanying Stanton. Captain -Sutter furnished horses and saddles
with which to bring the women and children out of the mountains. The expe-
dition failed on account of the snow, which at some points was eighteen feet
deep. The party returned for more help, but unfortunately the Mexican War
was on and every able-bodied man was away. At Captain Sutter's sugges-
tion Mr. Reed went to San Francisco to see if he could not procure help there.
He was compelled to make the journey by land and reached San Jose when
it was in a state of siege. Arrived at San Francisco, a public meeting was
held and relief parties fitted out. Mr. Reed, with Mr. McCutcheon, accompa-
nied the first of these, which went by the river. On the route he met his
wife and children rescued by a relief party that had gone ahead of them.
He only stopped a few minutes for greetings and then pushed on to the. relief
of the other sufferers, whom they reached about the middle of the next day.
The first camp was that of Mr. Breen. Mr. Reed says :
"If we left any provisions here it was a small amount, he and his family
not being in want. We then proceeded to the camp of Mrs. Murphy, where
Kessburg and some children were. Here we left provisions and one of our
company to cook for and attend to them. From here we visited the camp of
Mrs. Graves, some distance further east. A number of the relief party
remained here, while Messrs. Miller, McCutcheon, another, and myself pro-
ceeded to the Donner camp. We found Mrs. Jacob Donner in a feeble condi-
tion. She died after we left. Her husband had died early in the winter. We
removed the tent and placed it in a more comfortable position. I then visited
the tent of George Donner, close by, and found him and his wife. He was
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 53
helpless. Their children and two of Jacob's had come out with the party
that went ahead of us. I requested Mrs. Donner to come with us, stating
that I would leave a man to take care of both George Donner and Mrs. jacuii
Donner. She positively refused, declaring that she would not leave her hus-
band in his enfeebled condition.
"We took the remaining three children of Jacob Donner, leaving a man
to take care of the two camps. Leaving all the provisions we could spare.
and expecting a party from Sutter's Fort would be in in a few days, we
returned to the camp of Mrs. Graves. Notice was given in all the camps
that we would start on our return to Sutter's early next day. About the
middle of the day we started, taking with us all who were able to travel."
The relief party that came after Mr. Reed, did not reach the sufferers as
soon as expected and disasters occurred in consequence. The full details of
the sufferings of the unfortunate party would fill a book. Each of the relief
parties, especially that conducted by Mr. Reed, endured sufferings equal to
those experienced by the unfortunates in the winter camp. History has no
parallel to the heroism displayed by these people in their efforts to rescue
suffering relatives and friends.
CHAPTER III
THE STORY OF JOSEPH BROWN
Of the splendid army of pioneers who set the stakes for the civilization
of Yuba and Sutter Counties, the editor of this history can find but one who
kept a diary of his "ups and downs" for the perusal of his descendants. That
one is Joseph Brown, who for many years, until his death, in 1917, made
Marysville his home, and who left a family of sons and daughters esteemed
highly in the community. To one of the daughters. Airs. John C. Dooley of
this city, the editor is indebted for the interesting account contained in this
chapter, which is made up from her father's diary.
Joseph Brown, with his parents and 500 others, left their home in
Iowa, May 15, 1849, to cross the plains for the new El Dorado. In the
party were many women and children. They made their first camp in
California on October 25, 1849. The Brown family consisted of the father
and mother and six children. The editor uses Mr. Brown's own language
in following his trials and tribulations while on the way to the Golden
State. The story follows :
"Our train consisted of about 110 wagons, mostly new, all covered with
heavy white canvas, forming a line about two miles in length, and making
quite a display. There were some horses and mule teams, having four
animals on each wagon, the ox teams having from two to four yoke of
oxen, with one exception. An old Scotch sea captain and his two sons had
one yoke of oxen and a mare on their team. Their oxen, not being well
broken, lay down, and in getting up turned the yoke, which brought the
near ox on the off side and the yoke underneath, instead of on top of then-
necks. The mare became tangled' in the harness and began kicking furiously.
The boys had never before experienced anything like this, and calling their
lather, explained in their way that the iarbert' ox was on the 'starbert side
and the 'starbert' ox was on the iarbert' side, and the mare foul in the rigging,
54 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
and all going to hell together. Having had no further trouble, we reached
the Platte River, followed it a number of days, and crossed it back and
forth. Large herds of buffalo could be seen at any time. They seemed to
care little for us. On one occasion a herd ran through our train, stampeding
some of our cattle and creating some little excitement, especially among the
women and children. However, little damage was done. Usually we trav-
eled from fifteen to twenty miles a day, one or two men going ahead to
secure suitable camping grounds, where water and grass could be had.
In camping at nights, our wagons would be brought around in a circle, one
behind the other, making a large yard where the cattle were yoked and
hitched each morning.
"Our party soon became dissatisfied, some anxious to make better time,
while others declared their teams could not stand longer drives. The follow-
ing night two separate camps were made, and all in favor of faster driving
camped together. The following morning the train divided up, about one-
half going ahead. My father, John Kupser (father of Bayard Kupser, who
lived near the Seven Mile House in this county until his death recently),
and the Burris and Cordell families decided to stay with the party behind.
This reduced our train to about forty-five wagons. The cattle were begin-
ning to wear out, and, being sore-footed, travel was slow.
"We reached Green River, a beautiful stream rising in western Wyo-
ming and flowing south through Utah. On the way we found notices to the
trains behind warning them against Indians. Cattle that gave out had to
be left behind with the wagons and most of their contents ; and almost every
day we would pass cattle, from twenty to thirty in number, left by parties
ahead of us, which were unable to go farther. Some of our party exchanged
their wagons for lighter ones, as many of the wagons left behind formerly
belonged to the train that had left us and gone ahead.
"In November, we reached Humboldt River, in the State of Nevada,
followed it down perhaps ISO miles or more, passing what are now thriving
mining camps and railroad towns, namely, Elko, Carlin, Battle Mountain,
Golconda, Winnemucca and others. Two clays before reaching Battle Moun-
tain, the Indians attacked the train ahead of us, driving off a number of
their best cattle, beside killing three of the party and wounding a number
of others. Eighteen or twenty Indians were killed in the battle, which
lasted two or three hours. Had the immigrants not been protected by their
wagons, they undoubtedly would have been murdered. The three men
killed were buried side by side, with their names on their headstones and the
words: 'Killed by Indians September 10, 1849.' The dead Indians were
taken away by their tribe. Arrows almost hid the ground where the battle
took place. Not having any use for these, we passed them by as fast as
possible, moving on until almost dark, and then we put a double guard on
our cattle.
"After following the river for a number of days, we came to what was
called the 'Lassen Meadows,' where we found notices to emigrants to take
the Lassen Cut, a very dim road, or trail, turning directly west, as the nearest
and best road to California. There being an abundance of feed and water
here, we stopped for a day to rest our cattle. The following morning our
party divided again, some following down the Humboldt River to the Sink
and across the desert known as the 'Hennis Pass Route.' Father, with a
number of others, including the Kupser and Cordell families, took the Lassen
Cut-off. The Burris family, which later settled at Browns Valley in Yuba
County, recently had had a son added to the family. They started off on the
Cut-off, but after driving a few miles wisely turned back to the Hennis
Pass. The road was very difficult and dangerous to travel. In a number
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 55
of places, our wagons had to be let down by ropes into canyons, requiring
three or four teams to draw them out on the opposite banks. About day-
break one morning, Indians, thirty or forty in number, attacked the men on
guard and tried to drive off some of our cattle, but failed in their attempt.
Being fired upon from different points by the men on guard, they left for
the hills. Three Indians were seen to fall from their horses, and undoubtedly
a number of others were wounded. One of the guards was slightly hurt by
arrows. The "cattle were then brought to camp, and without waiting for
breakfast we took to the road. Here another of the men had to leave his
wagon, having only three cattle able to go further. These three oxen were
put on the next weaker team and his outfit taken along.
"Our provisions, as well as our teams, were giving out, and the weather
looking as though winter would soon overtake us. Everything was unfav-
orable and discouraging. Our only hope was to move ahead, which we
did. Indian campfires could be seen at night. With the knowledge of our
previous trouble, we did not know at what hour we might be attacked, and
this added to the suffering of our little party. There were now but six
families, perhaps twenty-five or thirty able men in all. They could make
but a very feeble resistance against 300 or 400 Indians if we were attacked,
as we fully expected retaliation for the killing of the three or four Indians
who had attempted to drive off the cattle previously mentioned. However,
we moved along steadily and finally reached the summit of the Sierra
Nevadas. Father was appointed to go ahead and look over the road and
pick a camping ground. He reported that night that we had reached the
summit of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the valley could be seen be-
low. These were the first words of encouragement we had had since leav-
ing our homes in Iowa.
"After we had passed over the summit and were going down grade, we
made much better time. We reached Pitt River, the headwaters of the Sacra-
mento River; and following it down, we came to the Lassen Ranch, where
we found a party that had gotten in a few days ahead of us and had driven
their cattle toward the hills for feed. AVhile guarding their cattle, they saw
another large band of cattle, with two Indians herding them, and they
recognized some of them as cattle that had been taken at the Battle Mountain
encounter, but said nothing. One Indian, who spoke a few words of English,
said that Lassen had bought the cattle. The Lassen Cut-off was at least
130 miles or more out of our way, and a worse road could not be found in
the Sierra Nevadas. Our party went to the ranch to buy flour, but was
refused by the man in charge ; but each man helped himself to some wheat
and went to our camp. The party ahead of us had just killed a fat calf
belonging to Lassen ; and dividing with us, we all feasted on cracked wheat,
veal and acorns, at Lassen's expense.
"Early the next morning found us on the road again. It had rained
during the night, leaving the road very heavy. We traveled a number of
days before we got in sight of Table Mountain. Here we found a notice
to emigrants directing them to different mining camps, giving the name and
clislance to each camp, signed "Bidwell," Morris Ravine being the nearest.
After a long talk, my father decided to try that, the others deciding to go on,
saying that it was another Lassen Cut-off fake. However, father ordered
me to turn and follow him, which I had trouble in doing, as our team had
been used to following in line and refused to obey. However, being an
expert with the whip, I brought them around, following father along the
base of the Table Mountain, where we made our first camp in California.
October 25, 1849.
56 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
"After arranging our camp, the following morning father walked clown
to the Feather River and to the Morris Ravine, where he found a few
miners at work. After talking with them and seeing them wash out a few
pans of dirt, he' returned to the camp, which was three or four miles distant.
Next morning he took his pan, shovel and pick, located a claim, and com-
menced his first day's work in California. He would work until late, lay
the gold taken from each pan 1 of dirt on a flat rock, and at night take it to
camp in his pan, having, he thought, about two ounces of gold, or about
thirty dollars, for his clay's work. He continued walking back and forth
for several days, rain or shine. One very stormy day, a stranger on horse-
back came to our camp, driving two oxen. He talked with my mother and
told of the different mining camps and advised us to move our camp down
the river. He left the two steers with my brother George and myself, saying
that if he came back for them within a few days he would pay us for our
trouble in looking after them, but if not, we could keep them. He said that
we could ride or lead them like horses. He gave his name as Bidwell.
"Father, acting on Bidwell's advice, decided to move our camp to the
river. We gathered our steers and packed them with bedding and clothing.
Father took the lead with a load on his back, and my brother George and
I took charge of the steers, while mother and my- oldest sister handled the
three younger children. YVe reached the river with little trouble. Some
of the miners came and assisted us in arranging our camp. The next day
we made two trips to our wagon, taking all of our plunder and part of the
wagon bed, from which father made a rocker and furniture. Here we spent
the winter of 1849.
"Provisions at that time were not to be had. We, like the others, lived
mostly on game, of which there was an abundance of all kinds. However,
after a few days, a pack train of eight or ten mules came in with provisions,
mostly flour and beans, and some bacon. Flour sold at that time for $1.50
per pound ; other things in proportion. Soon another and larger train came
in with a general assortment of provisions, dry goods, etc. Flour then took
a drop to $1 a pound. Mother bought a pint jar of pickles and two sweet
potatoes for $11; a paper of needles and two spools of thread, $7.50; three
pairs of shoes, $10 and $14 per pair ; rubber boots ran $28 and $30 a pair.
"We worked every day but Sunday. Father would dig and carry dirt
to the river in a sack while I handled the rocker, often making as high as
$100 or $150 per day; but this did not last long. We remained here until
the spring of 1850, when we moved up the south fork of the Feather River,
where father, with twelve or fifteen others, undertook to flume and turn
the river, with the idea of getting' rich quick, but after working all summer
and spending their money, the water came up and swept away in a night
what had taken them all summer to accomplish.
"Our next move was to a new camp (afterwards named Forbestown),
with the late James Forbes. This camp proved to be very lively. Forbes
entered into the mercantile business. Father kept public house later, but
mining was his principal occupation. Soon there were a number of saloons,
each having tw r o or more gambling tables. The principal games then were
monte, faro and roulette. Thousands of dollars exchanged hands every
night. Stacks of gold coin and sacks of gold dust were on the tables. There
was what was then called a 'slug,' containing $50, with other smaller coins.
"There were a few older settlers of Forbestown besides Forbes, one M.
McMurtry of North Butte, Ed Bogardus, and M. Gaskell, butchers; three
Turpire brothers, Dolph and Ed Moses, teamsters ; and John Snell, express-
man, besides the noted gambler, V. Hitchcock, from the 'Sunny South,' where
'they shoot, cut, and drink whiskey,' this being his usual expression when
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 57
drunk. At his table he usually had from $5000 to $10,000 in coin and dust,
with his loaded revolver always at hand.
"The miners usually left the gold in the pans in front of their camps to
dry, unmolested ; but on one occasion a stranger came to town, and seeing
things lying around, decided to help himself, which he did by entering a camp
and taking clothing, a gold watch, and $40 or $50 in gold. He was found
with most of the plunder on him, was taken to a tree, his shirt stripped off,
and he was tied with his arms around the tree. He was given twenty-five
lashes with a rawhide, and ordered to leave town, which he did.
"We remained in Forbestown until the fall of 1852, when we moved to
Sutter County and located a few miles below Captain Sutter's place, now
Hock Farm. Father, after getting our house well under way and leaving
men to finish it, returned to the mine in Forbestown. Our nearest neigh-
bors were Mr. and Mrs. Bader, who kept the public house and sold liquor.
It will be remembered that Mrs. Bader was murdered by a man named
Jackson, and thrown into the slough where she usually did her washing.
Jackson had come there the evening before. The following morning, Bader
rode up to Captain Sutter's place of business, leaving Jackson with Mrs.
Bader. During his absence, Jackson shot and killed Mrs. Bader, and, after
secreting her body in the slough, went through the house in search of money
they were supposed to have. On Bader's return, Jackson met him at the
door and fired two shots at him, neither taking effect. Bader ran down to
our house, inquired for his wife and told what had happened, and, after
getting together a few of the nearest neighbors, returned to his house.
Jackson had taken Bader's horse, and rode toward Yuba City. A party
followed him and found him about four miles below Yuba City, asleep, with
his horse tied near by. He was taken back. In the meantime, a number
of people had heard of the murder and collected. Jackson was given a trial
and sentenced to be hanged the following evening. Some of the jurors were
Captain Allender, Stephen Shores, Ed Tobin, Captain Sutter, Jr., Jim Hum-
phreys, and others, with Judge Lynch presiding. . He was taken to a near-by
tree and hanged. The news had reached Yuba City by this time, and a
number came down, including the sheriff and other officers, but they were
too late. There was quite a discussion among them over the hasty pro-
ceedings, but nothing was done. Jackson was allowed to hang there until
about dark, when he was taken down and buried near the same spot, with
his boots on. This all took place the 'same day. Mrs. Bader's body was
found in the slough, was taken to her house and prepared for burial by
my mother, sister, and Mrs. Brighton, a neighbor, and was buried at Cap-
tain Sutter's place.
"We remained there until the winter of 1852, when the first flood that
came took away our house and most of its contents. The first warning we
had of water was hearing the pans and kettles floating about in the house.
We were soon up and hastily dressed with whatever we could find. With
the wind blowing a gale and the water two feet deep in the house, we started
for a high knoll about 300 or 400 yards away, where we remained until day-
break, when we were rescued by parties camped near and taken to Mrs.
Brighton's, on high ground. As she had a large family, it was an easy matter
for us to get dry clothing. When father heard of the high water in the
valley, he came down and removed to Yuba City, then a lively camp with
one or two grocery stores, two saloons, and some business houses. There
were two ferries, one about where the bridge now is, known as Hanson Ferry,
and handled by one John Frank; the other was a ferry about half a mile
above, known as Webb Ferry. The latter was of short duration. The road
58 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
or street to Marysville, now Fifth Street, was then much the same as Third
Street is to the boat landing.
"The second flood, which came in 1853, covered the whole country
almost to the Buttes. Marysville was in water two to four feet deep ; Yuba
City the same, with one exception, the Indian mound, where fifty or seventy-
five Digger Indians were camped near where the Dr. J. H. Barr residence
now is. Plouses and stacks of hay, with pigs and poultry on top, went down
the river, greatly interfering with the ferry ropes. Marysville could be
reached only by rowboats, one of which I handled. The fare from Yuba
City to Marysville and return was $1. The water soon went down, leaving
the roads and streets in bad condition.
"Marysville was then perhaps the best business town on the Coast. Ten
or fifteen large teams would go out almost daily, loaded with supplies for
the mines, besides a number of stages with four to six horses, many of them
only partly broken, carrying passengers. Mail and express went to all
points in the mountains where such conveyances could reach. There were
also a number of pack trains having fifteen to twenty, or more, mules, loaded
with supplies, that went to the mines higher up, wdiere wagons could not
reach. One of the first pack trains from Marysville was run by the late
J. Bustillos of La Porte. Most of the freight then came to Marysville by
water, there being five or six boats making regular trips. There was one
large-sized wheel boat called the Comanche, besides the Urilda, J. Bragdon,
and the Governor Dana. The last two boats alternated, making trips to
Hammontown and Oroville, the latter a lively mining town, where a number
of freight teams and pack trains left daily. The boat-landing, or wharf, was
near and below where the W. T. Ellis grocery was operated for years. The
Merchants' Hotel, then operated by John C. Fall, one of the leading mer-
chants in Marysville, was doing a wdiolesale business mostly ; but he finally
became involved and broke up, losing his $50,000 residence on G and Seventh
Streets, now owned by Richard Belcher, Marysville attorney.
"Marysville had its first State Fair in 1853, same being well attended.
Many of the older settlers were there with their stock and other exhibits.
Among these settlers were Captain Sutter, Major Bidwell, Charles Covillaud.
father of the late Charles Covillaud, Peter Lassen, and others; but the moat
conspicuous person There was Kit Carson. He could be known by his dress,
as he wore a buckskin suit with red stripes and tassels down the back,
Panama hat and red sash. He carried with him a general assortment of
Indian reiics, bows and arrows, beads, moccasins, and many other curiosities,
besides two Indian scalps, which he claimed were taken from an Apache
chief and warnor in a battle.
"We remained in Yuba City until the fall of 1854, when we made another
move to West Butte, locating two miles above where the West Butte store
now is, and adjoining the property of the late Squire Hamlin, for whom I
later went to work, remaining with him for a number of years. My prin-
cipal work was riding after stock, which he dealt in. W. H. Parks and
Frank Parks, the latter the father of the late William H. Parks of the Decker
& Jewett Company, bankers, had a large number of cattle, which I also
looked after. Their cattle at times ranged as far north as Chico in Butte
County, and above, which was then a small place.
' "At that time the Indians frequently made raids through and around
Chico, driving off the stock and murdering whenever an opportunity pre-
sented itself. The Heacock family will still be remembered. They were
living above Chico, when one day three of the family and a man named
Thomas Allen, a teamster, were murdered. With Allen was an Indian boy,
raised by M. Keefer, who saw the Indians coming down towards them.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 59
Realizing: their intention, he ran to the Heacock house, telling of the coming
of the Indians. He insisted that Mrs. Heacock go to the Sadorus house;
but she refused, saying that her two girls and boy were gathering blackber-
ries on the creek, and she would wait until they returned. The Indian boy
then took her baby and ran toward the Sadorus place, calling her to come.
Finally she followed, and when they reached the house, the boy reported
seeing the Indians. Owing to Sadorus not being home, nothing could be
done. On his return, however, he was told by the boy that the Indians were
going toward Mr. Allen's, who was then attaching his team to his loaded
wagon. Sadorus did not dare to leave his family, which consisted of his wife
and three daughters, Mrs. M. J. Bryden and Mrs. Joseph Brown (still resi-
dents of Marysville) and Mrs. J. P. Cope of Central House, Butte City, and
two sons, John and Charles Sadorus, now of Illinois. After sending a man
to warn the neighbors along the creek, he sent to Chico for help. A party
was quickly formed and started. They found Allen lying near his team, shot
to death with arrows. After caring for him, further search was abandoned
for the night. The following morning, a larger party started in search of
the two girls, and the boy. Late in the day the two girls were found dead,
their clothing stripped from their bodies, which were pierced with arrows.
From one of the girls, thirty-two arrows were taken. There were two deep
gashes in the face of this girl, one under each eye. These girls were fourteen
and sixteen years of age. The girls' remains were taken to the home of the
Sadorus family, where their mother was waiting for them. Their father,
who was then in the mountains, was sent for, and arrived in time to attend
the funeral, which was held in Chico. Further search for the boy, with an
additional force of men, was made for a number .of days, but without success,
as the Indians were alert, wore moccasins, and left no tracks by which the
men in search could follow. However, at the end of eight or ten clays, and
perhaps seventy-five or eighty miles from the scene of the murder, they came
to where the Indians had camped and had a war dance over their victim.
The boy had been forced to walk the entire distance. When found, he had
a rope around his neck and was tied to a stake. He had not been shot, but
was tortured to death by degrees in a most cruel manner. His remains were
taken back and buried beside his sisters, without his mother seeing them,
as they were so badly decomposed and otherwise mangled and bruised.
"I remained with Squire Hamlin until the year of the silver excitement
in Nevada State in 1862, when the Squire decided to go to Nevada and locate
a stock range and perhaps a silver mine. He had lost very heavily in cattle
during the winter and spring just passed, when thousands of cattle along
the river were drowned and those in the Buttes and on higher ground died
from lack of food. The Squire purchased a large wagon, loading it mostly
with provisions, and with four yoke of cattle started for Nevada, taking
along about 100 head of stock. Travel was rather slow, as we had consid-
erable trouble with the stock. AYe had reached Dogtown on the Honey
Lake route, when the Squire met with an accident from which he never fully
recovered, causing us to lay off for a few days. He grew worse daily, and
after one teamster and two other men left him, he decided to return home.
selling the whole outfit and stock to a Mr. Miller, of Humbug Yalley. 1
then took the Squire to Dogtown, where he took the stage for Marysville.
took the saddle-horse back to \Yest Butte. Having only two of my own, I
bought two more and with a light wagon made the trip alone, going to \ ir-
ginia City and across the desert to the Sink of the Humboldt River, where
I found a man named James Emery camping. He was going to a new camp
called Trinity District, near where is now the Rochester Mine. We camped
together and spent the first month in prospecting. As Finery was an old
60 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
prospector, I depended a great deal on him. We found two or three ledges
that we considered good, which we located, naming one the West Butte.
There was only one mine working, and turning out some good ore. How-
ever, for lack of machinery, it could not be worked properly. In the camp
were two families, Mr. Lovelock and family, and Mrs. Ellis. Indians were
then committing murders almost daily. There were three or four Indians
around the different camps who were supposed to be peaceable. They were
supplied with food and clothing, even with powder and caps, as they had guns.
"Emery and myself decided to move to Unionville, then a gold mining
camp, with a number of mines at work. However, before leaving we
thought it best to do some work on the ledges we had discovered, and set
the following day to go ; but as Emery met with a slight accident, he was
unable to go. A friend of his, Frank Gregg, was anxious to go along, so the
following morning we were ready to start, when a man named Joe Bartlett,
better known as 'Black Rock Joe,' an old Indian fighter, advised us to take
a gun along. He gave us a Henry rifle with sixteen cartridges in it and a
belt with twenty or thirty more cartridges, which we took along.
"They had noticed our pet Indians, as we usually called them, were
missing; but this was nothing unusual. As it was only three or four miles
to the first ledge, we soon reached it, commenced work, and were about
ready to move to the next claim, when three shots were fired almost at once.
I saw Frank stoop over and rise again, and asked him if he were hit, and he
said he was. I ran for the rifle, which lay a few steps away, and moved up
a few steps, and could see where the Indians were trying to reload their
rifles. I fired two or three shots among them. When they arose and started
to run over a short rise, I fired at the last one, and when they came in sight
again there was one Indian missing. Knowing what had happened, I
directed my firing at the next one behind. After two or three shots, he
lagged behind. The one in the lead came back to assist him, but could not
raise him, and left. He was then 250 or 300 yards away, but in plain sight.
I fired three or four shots at him, and could see one arm hanging at his side,
and knew he was badly wounded.
"Running back to where Frank lay, and examining his wound, I could
see that he was fatally shot. Something had to be done and done quickly,
as we did not know what minute we might be attacked by other Indians
that might have heard our shooting. After consulting with one another,
we decided that I should go to the camp for help. Gathering some sage-
brush and making a temporary shed over him, I started for camp and had
gone perhaps a half a mile, when I saw four or five, as I supposed. Indians
coming directly toward me from the camp. I secreted myself, replacing all
my empty shells with loaded ones, and determined not to let a single Indian
pass me. (I have just begun to realize how little I knew about Indians.)
The supposed Indians soon came in sight again. I then realized they were
white men, which was a great relief to me. I soon met them and told them
what had happened. They had heard the report of our guns, and knew we
were in trouble. Black Rock Joe was with them. He had borrowed a rifle,
for I had his. He remarked : 'That is you fellows' pet Indian that you have
been feeding and furnishing ammunition." I took one man back to camp
with me, after showing the others about where Frank was. We made a
stretcher with sacks and two poles to take Frank back to camp. While I
was gone, Black Rock Joe thought he would see if the first Indian that fell
was still there. He walked carefully around where he could see the Indian
lying, his gun a few feet from him. He was still alive. Black Rock Joe
recognized him as 'Billy,' one of the Indians that we had been feeding and
clothing. While examining the Indian's wound, his rifle was discharged, the
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 61
bullet passing through Billy's head, accidentally, I suppose. Billy was
buried, but the men did not look after the other Indian. We returned with
our temporary stretcher, to take Mr. Gregg to Mr. Lovelock's place, where
he had formerly worked. After two days' suffering, he died.
"A number had already left the camp and others were afraid to stay.
Mr. Emery was now able to be around; so we decided to move to Unionville,
then a lively town of about 600 or 700 inhabitants, and a number of mines
at work. John C. Fall, a former Marysville merchant, was there and in the
same business. Being interested in a number of mines, he employed me to
take charge of one called the 'Gem,' about eighteen miles north of Unionville,
where Emery and myself worked for about two years. The mine, then in
litigation, was closed down. Emery and myself decided to return to Trinity
District and do some work on our claims there. Before reaching our desti-
nation, we met a party of four men, who were planning to go on a ten- or
fifteen-day prospecting trip ; and among them was our old friend, Black Rock
Joe, who was anxious to have us go along. They were all armed with
Henry rifles. Emery was anxious to go. He took along the only shotgun
he had. I had always kept it loaded with twelve buckshot in each barrel,
which he fired off, reloading it. It was understood among us that any dis-
covery or location made by them was to be shared equally with me. The
following morning they started on their trip, and I went back to Unionville
for another outfit and a man to do our work in the Trinity District. Emery
had taken our outfit with him.
"The second day out, they camped on what is known as Willow Creek,
eighteen miles west from the Humboldt River. At daybreak the next morn-
ing, wdiile some of them were still in their beds, they were attacked by In-
dians, fifty to seventy-five in number. Mr. Arnold, being the first to arise,
was looking after their horses, which were staked near by, when he was shot
and disabled. The others in the party were soon out of their beds and ready
for action, they having the advantage of the Indians by being partly pro-
tected by the willows. The Indians on horseback would circle around them,
firing at them mostly with arrows, but some had rifles. After discharging
them, they would fall back out of sight, reload their rifles, and make another
attack. With Arnold wounded in the first attack, they were left with but
four men to contend with perhaps seventy-five Indians. The Indians made
another attack, getting very close and firing from their horses on the run.
Three or four were shot within a few steps from the camp. Emery was
fatally shot while reloading his gun after killing one Indian and wounding
another. The Indians left for the hills after about ten or twelve of their
tribe were either killed or wounded. After attending to the two wounded
men, Bartlett, following his usual habit of taking an Indian's scalp whenever
an opportunity offered, took six scalps. He could have taken more, but did
not molest those who were still alive. They recovered three of their horses;
one was taken by the Indians.
"The wounded men were placed on the wagons and returned to Mill
City on Humboldt River, then owned by the Thacker Brothers. John Thacker
was later a detective for the Wells Fargo Company. Emery died the fol-
lowing day. The news was soon spread to the different mining camps. Two
others and myself went to Mill City, getting there in time to assist in the
burying of Emery. Arnold was taken to Unionville for treatment, and soon
recovered. Emery was buried near where two others killed by Indians were
buried. One, a minister named John Kellogg, formerly of Yuba City, was
killed near Granite Springs. His body was cut in many pieces and hung
on sagebrush along the road. His remains were found and brought in Mill
City by the Spence brothers, teamsters, well known in Butte County. Mill
62 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY'
City is situated on the Humboldt River and was formerly known as Hum-
boldt Meadows, or Lassen Meadows, where many immigrants to California
were led perhaps 150 miles out of their way by the Peter Lassen Cut-off.
"Our prospecting trip was abandoned, and a party of about one hundred
determined to go in pursuit of the Indians, who were committing devasta-
tions. John Bryden, brother of the late James Bryden, of Honcut. acted as
our leader, taking along two Indians as guides. The Indians we were in
pursuit of were of the Shoshone tribe, then at war with the Piutes, each tribe
claiming the other was trespassing on its hunting grounds. We followed
them a number of days and finally reached their camp, where there were
twenty or thirty women and children, with five or six young bucks, who
tried to escape, but were shot down. The able-bodied men and warriors
had left camp the evening before. For several days we followed them,
but were invariably a day behind, as the Indians had the advantage
of us in knowing the country. As our supplies were getting short, we
decided to return.
"To illustrate the really brutal and murderous disposition of an Indian.
I will relate an incident I saw. While at their camp gathering up the women
and children, who were scattered and in hiding, one of our Indian guides,
seeing a child near by, rode up to it, took it by the hair, raised it into his
saddle, and then took it by one leg and dashed its head against a stone, killing
it instantly. This was reported to Mr. Bryden, our captain, who repri-
manded the Indian severely. The women were taken to Unionville and
held as prisoners, but were soon released.
"I then branched out into the cattle business. Purchasing a small band,
I remained with them, occasionally working in the mines, until the year the
Central Pacific Railroad came through in 1869, when myself and A. M.
Sadorus engaged in the butchering business, furnishing beef for the graders
and construction camps. It was not long before the first cars came through,
and we shipped our beef by cars until the camps got too far ahead. We then
opened a shop in Battle Mountain, where we built the first frame or lumber
house. It was then a lively railroad town of tents. AYe remained in the
butchering business until the year 1872, when we sold our shop and business
and went back into the cattle and sheep business. We then made Golconda,
on the Central Pacific Railroad, our headquarters. Having different camps,
our cattle ranged in Clover Valley and Kelly Creek, while our sheep were
kept mostly in Edin and Paradise Valley. Paradise Valley and Clover Val-
ley are now two of the most highly cultivated valleys in Nevada, running
parallel with and lying on the west side of Humboldt River, extending north.
In Clover Valley, many thousands of tons of alfalfa are put up yearly, fed
mostly to stock, and dairying is carried on extensively.
"We continued in the cattle and sheep business until the fall of 1880.
when we closed out our entire business in Nevada. My family and I then
returned to Yuba County, where I purchased what was then known as the
Fort Hawley place (now known as Olive Hill), with its entire flock of sheep.
We remained here until the fall of 1888, when I disposed of my place, con-
sisting of 980 acres of land, to Messrs. H. Juch, Ehmann and Allen, founders
of Olive Hill colony. I then returned to my old home in Marysville, after
an absence of eighteen years in Nevada State.
"Mr. Sadorus returned from Nevada to his home farm in Champagne
County, 111., in 1882, where he remained until called by death, October 13,
1915. He had crossed the plains to California in 1849 by ox team over the
extreme southern route, landing in San Diego in the late fall of 1849. where
they remained about two years, then moving to Butte County, and locating
on Rock Creek, above Chico. During their stay in San Diego, a daughter
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 63
was born to them, November 26, 1850, now Mrs. Joseph Brown, of H Street.
in Marysville.
"Among- the earliest settlers in Marysville, were Capt. John Sutter, who
arrived in 1839; Gen. John Bichvell. 1841; L. W. Hastings of Colusa. F. B.
Redding of Shasta, and Peter Lassen. 1844: Fremont and Kit Carson, in 1845:
Townsend. and Murphy and the Covillauds of the Donner party, in 1846.
Mr. W. G. Murphy became a well-known attorney in Marysville. In spite
of the wild and uncivilized nature of the country in the earlv davs, there
were many good men among the settlers. Many acts of kindness were shown
our family in different ways, which were appreciated and never forgotten
by my mother and sister. Captain Sutter was one of the most liberal and
hospitable of men. It was through his kindness and hospitalitv that he
became heavily involved. He lost his lands, together with his vast herds of
stock, and was left with only his home place, Hock Farm, which was later
taken from him. Leaving- Hock Farm, he returned to Pennsylvania, his
former home, dying in "Washington. D. C. January 19, 1888.
"These are my recollections of the 'days of 49.* They were indeed
wonderful days. And if my story in any way enables you to appreciate
them, the telling has been worth while."
The story of Joseph Brown's hardships is typical of the life and adven-
tures of many another "forty-niner," and for that reason, as well as for its
own romantic interest and fascination, is regarded by the compiler as worth}
of permanent record in full, in the history of the early pioneer days.
CHAPTER IV
YUBA COUNTY IN THE LATE FORTIES
The year 1848 proved to be of unusual importance in the history of Yuba
County. The discovery of gold at Coloma in Eldorado County was followed
in less than four months by the finding of the precious metal within the limits
of Yuba County. During "this year Charles Covillaud, one of the founders of
the county, married Miss Mary Murphy, sister of Mrs. Michael Nye and
Mrs. William Foster, who had crossed the plains to the new Arcadia. Marys-
ville, two years later, received its name from Mary Covillaud. The details of
the town meeting at which Mrs. Covillaud was given this signal honor appeal-
in another chapter treating specifically of the history of Marysville from its
birth to the present day. It was during the year 1848, also, that Rouelle
abandoned his place on the south side of Yuba River and settled again mi
Feather River, near Charles Roether, and Nye occupied his old house. Pat-
terson sold to Sicard the land he had purchased in 1846 from Smith. In the
spring. Foster moved his family from Yerba Buena, and in partnership with
Nye bought Smith's ranch.
During the remaining portion of this year nothing of note occurred in
this region until the discovery of gold on the American River, when all eyes
were turned in that direction; but the heat of the mining fever was nut yet
at its highest. The people were suspicious regarding the quality and amount
of the gold. As the weeks passed, however, confidence was gained and the
belief that there might possibly be precious minerals in other localities was
64 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
strengthened. Prospectors gradually pushed out beyond the narrow limits
of the first mining district, and thus commenced the opening up of the vast
mining fields of California and the Pacific Coast.
There seems to be some dispute regarding the first discovery of gold
north of the American River and in the vicinity of Marysville. The credit
is divided between Michael Nye and his party and an early settler named
Jonas Spect. The discoveries by Nye and Spect were nearly contemporane-
ous. Spect and two friends were on their return to the Eastern States, rather
discouraged and disappointed at their success in California as gold hunters,
when they came upon a party of Indians on their way to Sutter's Mill to dig
gold. The Indians reported stories of fabulously rich diggings; and Spect
and his party thereupon changed their minds about returning East. On
reaching Slitter's Mill they found that several rich strikes had been made, but
the miners there at work did not average $2.50 a day. Marshall and Sutter
claimed the land and rented the mines to prospectors. Every one supposed
that gold was confined to that particular section.
Disgruntled, Spect then tried Bear River, near what is now known as John-
son Rancho, of which the present city of Wheatland is the center. There
he had scarcely any better success. He then arranged for an Indian guide,
who encouraged prospecting on the Yuba River. On the 1st of June they
struck the Yuba near Long Bar, then a small mining settlement occupied
by the hardy adventurers of that early day. On June 2, Spect prospected
up the stream, finding some gold, but not in paying quantities. The Indian
was well acquainted with the locality, and he piloted Spect up to the location
of Rose Bar, close to the present site of Smartsville, where they met a
large number of Indians, all entirely nude and living mostly on clover. Here,
again, he found gold, but not in remunerative quantities. In Timbuctoo
ravine, now a suburb of Smartsville, though but a ghost of its former self,
he washed some of the dirt and found three lumps of gold worth about $7.
A week later Spect met Michael Nye and William Foster prospecting in
the same vicinity.
That summer Nye and his party found paying diggings on Dry Creek,
near its junction with the Yuba River, and commenced working on an exten-
sive scale. From these discoveries the search for gold spread to every creek
and rivulet, and Yuba County's reputation as a gold field spread and grew.
In 1849 the United States government, for the protection of the early
settlers, established Camp Far West at a point four miles east of the present
city of Wheatland, Yuba County's hop and fruit center. Camp Far West
is now indicated to the tourist by a marker erected by the Native Sons of
the Golden West, at the instance of Rainbow Parlor of that order in Wheat-
land. Here two companies of soldiers were maintained for several years
under Capt. H. S. Day, who afterward became Major Day, and whose son
became Adjutant-General of the State of Nevada. Captain Day received his
supplies from San Francisco by boats to Vernon Landing on Feather River,
which often had to be unloaded under many disadvantages on account of the
mud and muck on the river banks. AVhen not unloading boats or on duty,
the soldiers could earn from $5 to $6 a day mining near the military camp.
Fred H. Greely, present auditor and recorder of Yuba County, and a
Past Grand President of the order of Native Sons of the Golden West,
recently presented to Rainbow Parlor of the order at Wheatland a relic of
Camp Far West, which is dearly treasured by the members of that body. It
consists of Captain Day's official letter book, containing copies of the reports
he made to the War Department while in charge of Camp Far AVest.
Camp Far West was abandoned in May, 1852, and the troops, numbering
about forty men of Company E, 1st Infantry, under the command of Lieu-
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 65
tenant Davis, were ordered to set out for the upper Sacramento, with a
design of establishing a post in the neighborhood of Cottonwood, for the
purpose of protecting the settlers from hostile Indians. A public sale of the
extra stores was held on the first day of May. Many of the soldiers were
discharged, some of these going to the mines or working for settlers, others
settling on lands, and the remainder going to their homes. There were left
behind the log structures built for barracks and officers' quarters, and also
a log fort. These buildings could be seen there for many years after, but
no trace of them now remains.
The year of 1849 opened with but little visible improvement in the
future city of Marysville, and without many additions to its roll of inhab-
itants. The whole current of travel was toward the mines on the upper parts
of the rivers, and few considered it necessary to remain more than a day
or two at the old ranch on the Yuba. On the 4th of January, Cordua sold
to Michael C. Nye and William Foster, for $20,000, his remaining one-half
interest in the business and possessions of the firm of Cordua & Company,
Charles Covillaud retaining the other half. Nye and Foster also put into
the partnership their previous possessions, in view of which they each were
allotted a third interest in the joint business. Nye managed the ranch and
stock business, while Covillaud had a store at Sicard Flat, and Foster one
near Foster's Bar. The name of the main ranch was now changed to "Nye's
Ranch." The firm found a ready market for all of their beef in the mines, or
with travelers to and from the diggings. In April, 1849, the estimated
amount of stock on the ranch was 5000 head of cattle, 600 horses, 500 hogs,
and a small collection of poultry. Cordua, having sold his property, moved
to the mines, opening a store at Cordua Bar. It was not long before he had
spent all of the money paid him by Nye and Foster.
In the spring, Rose, Reynolds and Kinloch purchased the whole tract
owned by Nye and Sicard on Yuba River. George Kinloch's father was a
Scotchman, who came to California about 1825 ; his mother was a native
Californian. George received his education in the Sandwich Islands under
the tuition of the Missionaries, there being no opportunities in California
excepting the Mission schools of the Catholic Friars. He entered into
partnership with Messrs. Rose and Reynolds shortly after they opened their
store at Rose Bar in 1848.
During the spring of 1849 a board of commissioners were elected at
Sacramento to frame a code of laws for the district. The following were
the members: Messrs. Brannan, Snyder, Slater, Hensley, King, Cheever,
McCoover, McDougal, Barton Lee, Tetle, Southard, Fowler, and Dr. Car-
penter. The committee speedily prepared their report and, calling the people
together under the shade of an oak tree at the foot of I Street, Sacramento
City, submitted to them the result of their labors. It provided for the
election of one alcalde and a sheriff, with a jurisdiction extending from the
Coast Range to the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and throughout the Sacra-
mento Valley. The report having been adopted, H. A. Schoolcraft was
elected alcalde, and A. M. Turner, sheriff. These constituted the judiciary
of Northern California up to the latter part of 1849.
About the 1st of April, the town of Vernon, in Sutter County, was
started on the east bank of the Sacramento River at its confluence with the
Feather River. The land, comprising two sections, had been purchased by
Franklin Bates, E. O. Crosby, and B. Simons from Capt. John A. Sutter,
the latter retaining a quarter interest in the town. Owing to the fact that
it was considered to be the "head of navigation," its rise was very rapid.
Three or four wholesale stores were established in tents, or in board struc-
tures. Ox teams and pack trains were loaded here with supplies fur the
66 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY •
mining localities. In a very short time there were opened several hotels
and boarding houses, butcher shops, blacksmith shops, laundries, and even
a law office and alcalde's court. Eight or ten saloons or gambling houses
were started, and the town presented a busy appearance. Among the busi-
ness men and firms were Captain Savage, Bradbury & Company, and Will-
iams & Company. Gilbert A. Grant was alcalde and agent for the sale of
lots. George W. Crane was the attorney-at-law. Jonas Spect had settled on
the west bank of the Feather River and located the town of Fremont.
As soon as it was found that steamers and the larger sailing vessels
could successfully reach the landing at Marysville, however, Vernon's fate
was sealed and soon the town was nearly deserted. It was at one time the
county seat of Sutter County. Thinking that Vernon was to be the city of
Northern California, and that the limited confines of the first map would,
in the rush of settlers, be insufficient for all the locations, an addition called
South Vernon was laid out ; but only one house was constructed thereon.
On April 28 a weekly paper, printed upon paper of the size of foolscap, and
called the Placer Times, issued its first number at Sutter's Fort. E. C.
Kimble was its editor, typesetter, publisher and printer, and was the "pioneer
newspaper man" of the valley.
Reverting to Nye's Ranch, on September 27, 1849, Messrs. Nye and
Foster sold to Charles Covillaud, for $30,000, all the title and interest in the
land, improvements, etc., which had been conveyed to them by Cordua.
Covillaud was now the sole possessor of the ranch, but his tenure was to be
of but short duration. On October 1, 1849, Covillaud sold to J. M. Ramirez
and J. Sampson, for $23,300, an undivided one-half of his property, $12,000
to be paid down and $11,300 to be paid on July 1, 1850; and during the same
month he disposed of one-fourth to Theodore Sicard, for $12,000, the firm
name being Covillaud & Company.
On the 25th of October, a company landed in Marysville which was
destined to become an important factor in the more close settlement of Yuba
County. This was a joint-stock company, composed of twenty-six active
and ten home shareholders, organized in Gardiner, Maine, and called the
Kennebec Company. In March, 1849, the company went to New Bedford,
Mass., where they bought a vessel and loaded a cargo. The officers were :•
C. N. Bodfish, president ; C. M. N. Cooper, captain ; Leander Cox and one
other, directors. The departure was made on the 1st of April, the extra
accommodations being secured by passengers not members of the organiza-
tion. On the 17th of September, 1849, the ship arrived at San Francisco,
and was taken up to the "New York of the Pacific," the prospective metrop-
olis on the lower rivers. A house, which they had brought with them in
sections, was erected at the town, and the vessel was sold. After landing
and making necessary preparations, the company started for the northern
mining regions, making the voyage in six rowboats. They landed at the
site of Marysville, and remained on the night of October 25. The next day
they resumed the trip, passing up the Yuba River two miles to Simpson's
Crossing, where they pitched a tent and covered their provisions. The jour-
ney was renewed, and after passing ten miles up the river they discovered
and located Kennebec Bar, during the last days of October, 1849.
In November, 1849, the only buildings at Nye's Ranch were two adobe
structures at the foot of D Street, about two or three rods apart. One was
used as a boarding house and the other as a lodging apartment, to accom-
modate the local travel. No furniture was placed in the latter, the lodgers
being required to furnish their own bedding. The brightening prospects of
the location, and the certainty that it would be the head of navigation,
caused the proprietors, in December, to have a survey made for a town.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 07
The work was performed by August Le Plonjean, who segregated the tract
into ranges, blocks, and lots. The incipient city was called "Yubaville,"
the name it bore till the beginning of the next year. Some of the early
residents stated prior to their death that it was a common rumor, when they
arrived in 1850, that the streets had been laid out and the lines run by the
use of a ship's quadrant. This, if true, accounts for the irregularities in
direction and distance existing even yet. The survey was speedily followed
by a lively real-estate market ; lots and blocks were disposed of at good
round figures, and the attention of many who had heretofore thought that
all the wealth of the State lay in the mines was called to this new money-
making investment. There was one obstacle which prevented many careful
speculators from purchasing lots in this new town, and that was the doubt
as to the validity of the title. The tract had been secured from Captain
Sutter by Cordua through a lease for nineteen years, and at the end of that
period the land would revert to its real owner. During the next year this
matter of title was settled, and the obstacle removed. Although the gen-
erally accepted name at this time was Yubaville, there were those among
the people who had other favorite titles, and who persisted in applying
them to the new town. The old adobe house was the nucleus about which
were erected, near the close of the year, a number of shanties. The general
style of habitation was the tent made from canvas, cloth, or sacks. There
appeared to be no permanent population, everybody being on the move, all
full of life. A man named Osburn had a store on Front Street, near the old
adobe, and furnished supplies to the travelers and transient settlers.
During this year, there were a number of settlements made along Bear
River. The Johnson Grant fell into the hands of Henry Robinson and
Eugene Gillespie, who laid out a town at Johnson's Crossing, and gave it
the name of Kearney, in compliment to General Kearney. It did not prove
much of an honor, as the place never became settled.
In November, a sawmill was built on Bear River, about five miles above
Johnson's Crossing, by a man named John S. Moore, a Missourian, and was
known as Moore's Mill. This energetic individual was a counterfeiter, and
had in his possession a large quantity of spurious Missouri bank-bills. With
these he paid for the building of his mill, and remunerated his employees.
He established a broker's office and exchanged his bills for gold dust with
the returning miners, who were glad of an opportunity to have their heavy
wealth converted into paper money. So well executed were these bills,
that thousands of dollars of them were taken by the Missouri banks before
their true character was discovered. When their real nature was found out,
many miners who arrived in Missouri on their way home, thinking them-
selves to be rich, found that, notwithstanding the toils and dangers they had
passed through, they were as poor as when they started. When Moore
heard of the discovery he decamped, but was afterwards apprehended in
South America, though he was never brought back to this country for trial.
The year closed with little to foreshadow the events and startling
developments to take place within a few months. The mining was being
actively carried on in the mountains, and new discoveries and locations were
constantly being made.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
CHAPTER V
YUBA COUNTY IN THE FIFTIES
The era of growth and progress had now arrived, and the city, which
before this time had been seen only in dreams, was to become a reality. The
possibility of uninterrupted navigation to its landings gave it superiority
over the other towns on the lower parts of the river. The distance to the
mines was so small that the cargoes of the steamers and sailing vessels
could easily be transferred to the camps on the north and east. The mines
were in active operation along the Yuba River and its tributaries, from ten
miles above its mouth to the higher ranges of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
The growth of the town had just commenced, but it started full-fledged.
Lots sold rapidly, for the first object of the merchant on arriving was to
purchase or lease a suitable location for erecting his store. This wonderful
increase in the number of business houses was simply the outgrowth of
necessity. The mines were yielding millions of dollars, and miners must have
some place to dispose of their gold dust and to purchase their food, clothes,
and supplies. This was the only available point, and it became the business
center. It is estimated that on the 1st of January there were about 300
inhabitants in the town.
A tabulated statement made at that time, showing- the population of
California at the beginning of 1849 and comparing same with the population
of the State on Januarv 1, 1850, showed the following: January 1, 1849,
Calif ornians, 13,000; Americans, 8000; foreigners, 5000; total 26,000. Janu-
ary 1, 1850, Californians, 13,000; Americans, 76,069, increase in one year,
68,069 ; foreigners, 18,000, increase in one year, 13,000.
Illustrative of the unsettled state of opinion regarding the location of
the principal town of the region, the following may be mentioned. About
the 10th of February, J. H. Jewett and Horace Beach arrived at Yuba City
with a train of pack mules from Sacramento. The important question of
settlement then presented itself to them. Being undecided, they remained
in Yuba City about a week, when, fully convinced that the town across the
river was to be the fortunate one, they crossed in a canoe, swimming their
mules. The result showed their opinion and decision to be correct. During
the first part of January, the second steamer on the river arrived. This
was the Lawrence, commanded by E. C. M. Chadwick, and she was quickly
followed by others. There "were no warehouses in which to store the abund-
ant supplies of goods and merchandise that were being landed from the
steamers and sailing vessels, and so they were deposited on the plaza, at the
foot of E Street. The tent stores were filled to their utmost capacity. The
only means of transportation to the mountain camps was by the pack trains.
In the valleys the immense freight-wagons, often referred to as "prairie
schooners," could be used.
On Saturday, January 19, 1850, the following advertisement appeared
in the Placer Times :
"Notice : The undersigned take this method of informing the public
that the new town of Marysville, at the mouth of Yuba River, formerly
known as 'Nye's Ranch,' is now undergoing survey, and the lots will be
offered for sale as soon as the map can be prepared. Persons desirous of
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 69
visiting this place, will find a road passable at all seasons of the year from
Sacramento City, by way of Norris Johnson's old ranch (now Gillespie's),
thence to the town. The steamers Lawrence and Linda are also making
regular trips twice a week. For further information, inquire of Messrs.
Covillaud, Fajard & Company.
"Signed: Charles Covillaud & Co., Proprietors."
It was at this juncture that Stephen J. Field, a young man destined to
become a justice of the United States Supreme Court, arrived on the scene
and made known that he was a lawyer from New York. His services at
once were enlisted in drawing up the deeds to the lots. To first quiet title
to the whole, Field had Captain Sutter sent for. Sutter affixed his signature
to a deed which conveyed to Covillaud, Ramirez, Sicard and Sampson all
his right and title in the tract settled upon by Cordua, and described as
follows : "Bounded southwardly by a small stream emptying into Feather
River, called Yuba River ; westwardly by Feather River ; and northwardly
by a line forming the northern boundary of the property of the party of the
first part, which line is in latitude 39 degrees 33 minutes and 45 seconds, and
which line commences at Feather River at the rancheria of Honcut, and
extends to the lands of Theodore Cordua's ranch ; eastwardly by a straight
line running from the lands of said Cordua's ranch, at right angles to the
above-mentioned northwardly line, to the Yuba River."
The tribunal formed by the selection of Stephen J. Field as alcalde, and
T. M. Twitchel, sheriff, caused the turbulent element that had found its
way to the new town to use greater discretion. Gambling, however, was an
evil with which the law was incapable of dealing; it had become a mania,
and policy required that the eyes of justice should be turned away from it.
Hotels were established to accommodate the citizens and travelers. The
rates charged were large; yet these were commensurate with the price at
that time paid for provisions and labor.
The free and easy morals at that time frequently tended to the com-
mission of criminal acts, the most common being' the stealing of horses and
cattle roaming on the wide, unfenced tracts. Following is an account of
the proceedings to force the discontinuance of this custom, published in the
Placer Times of Saturday, February 2, 1850 :
"Criminal Court of Sacramento District
"At a term of this court held for the District of Sacramento, at Marys-
ville, upon the Yuba, this 28th day of January, 1850, present R. A. Wilson,
Judge of the Criminal Court of said district. It having been made to appear
to this court that there was a combination of cattle thieves, with extensive
ramifications through this district ; and it further appearing to this court that
certain evil disposed persons have industriously circulated the report that it
is lawful to kill unmarked cattle upon the ranches, as well as upon the public-
lands, and that thereby many misguided persons have been led to the com-
mission of felony; and the Grand Jury of said district having upon their
oaths found true bills for grand larceny against Samuel Hicks, Michael
Watson, Nelson Gill, and James Nicholson for cattle-stealing: It is ordered
by the court, that the clerk give public notice warning all persons that may
have been misled by such misrepresentations, of the consequence of the
farther commission of such crime — that the stealing of beef cattle, whether
branded or unbranded, is an infamous offense, within the meaning of the
constitution, and any person convicted of said offense is deprived of all the
rights of citizenship in California, and liable to a sentence to two years
confinement in the chain gang; and that in conducting the administration Ol
70 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY -
justice, when necessary, the court is authorized to call upon the Command-
ant of the United States troops stationed at Johnson's Ranch.
"Signed : Stephen J. Field, Clerk of said Court
and Alcalde of Marysville."
In the Placer Times of Saturday, February 16, 1850, appeared a notice
by Nicolaus Allgeier, dated January 17, 1850, appointing Charles Berghoff
his agent. Then a notice appointing Joseph Grant agent to sell lots in
Nicolaus, signed, "Nicolaus Allgeier, by Carl Berghoff, his agent." Then:
"The subscriber, having a few lots undisposed of in the new town of
Nicolaus, will offer them tq this community for a few days longer, when
those remaining will be offered to the citizens of San Francisco. The terms
are easy and the burden light. Strike while the iron is hot.
"Signed : Joseph Grant, Corner of I and Front
Streets, over Stevens & Co."
In the middle of February, the appearance of Marysville was that of a
huge camp. The United States Hotel was a canvas structure on the east side
of D Street, between First and Second Streets, where a large garage is now
located. In the latter part of this month and the early part of the following,
this canvas structure was replaced by a boarding house. The City Hotel,
another canvas edifice, was located on the northeast corner of First and D
Streets, facing the Plaza. On E Street and south of First Street were
four canvas houses, one of which had a board front. They were all occupied
as wholesale and retail establishments. On the north side of First, between
E and F Streets, there were about four more canvas houses. John C. Fall's
establishment was on F Street. Residence tents were scattered around be-
tween Second Street and the river, most of the people boarding in the two
hotels. Old dry-goods or grocery boxes were sold for two or three dollars.
Torn apart and placed on the ground in the tents, they formed excellent floors.
It is estimated that the population at this time was as follows : Num-
ber of permanent inhabitants, 500; floating population, including travelers,
teamsters, packers, etc., 1000; total, 1500.
On the 19th of February, Theodore Sicard sold to R. B. Buchanan and
Gabriel N. Swezy, for $12,500, a large number of lots in Marysville, and
also the undivided one-fourth of the land deeded by Captain Sutter, January
18, 1850, to Covillaud, Ramirez, Sicard, and Sampson, and the same interest
in the Cordua Grant. Two days afterwards, on February 21, Captain Sutter
conveyed by deed to Covillaud, Ramirez, Sampson and Sicard the tract on
the south side of the Yuba.
As yet, religious services had not been held in the town. No mission-
aries had visited this portion of the county. The American River was the
line beyond which they had not dared to extend their operations. The
foreigners in the north were mostly Americans, and the Indians were of a
more savage and independent nature. They wanted no missionaries. In
the spring, however, the Reverend Washburn inaugurated the religious
movement by assembling a meeting on a flatboat near the Plaza. He went
from Maine to New Bedford, and came to this coast on the Mayflower, one
of the three vessels starting at about the same time from that port, the
other two being the American and the Obed Mitchell. Soon after his arrival
in Marysville, he opened a store, adjoining which was a saloon kept by his
son. The old gentleman was very much opposed to the business carried on
by his offspring. From this circumstance has been heralded the statement
that the pioneer minister in Marysville was a saloon-keeper, a charge evi-
dently without foundation. There was a person, however, who had served
in the ministry in the Eastern States, and who, upon arriving here in the
mixed state of morals, entered into business in the capacity of a monte-
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 71
dealer. When called to account by his friends from the East, he replied that
he had "struck a better thing" ; and, in truth, he was quite lucky at gaming.
The scene in the little town was one of unusual activity ; every person
was busy building tents, selling goods, unloading freight, or engaging in one
of the hundred other occupations incident to pioneer life. No regard was
paid to the Sabbath, as a day either of rest or of devotion. The following is
illustrative of the lack of respect shown to the day : One Sunday a ferry-
boat was being constructed near the river bank and the men were busily
calking the seams. A steamer lay at the wharf near by, the deck hands
industriously transferring the freight to the landing. It was a scene of
bustle and noise ; yet in the midst of all this confusion, a chaplain connected
with one of the mining companies, desiring to preach, selected the ferry-boat
as his stand and pulpit. A few men quit their occupations, and with the idle
persons gathered around the minister. The remainder continued their pur-
suits. Amid all this noise and confusion, and with frequent interruptions
from a drunken sailor, the minister delivered his discourse.
By March, over 350 lots had been sold and most of them had been
located upon. Lumber was selling at from $225. to $300 per thousand feet,
a price too high for the ordinary purchaser. Among the principal business
houses were : John C. Fall & Company ; Babb & Eaton ; Cook, Baker &
Company ; A. T. Farish ; Ford & Goodwin ; Eaton & Green ; S. Sartwell ;
Packard & Woodruff ; Lowe & Brothers ; Charles Lambert ; J. H. Adams ;
Treadwell & Company; John H. Jewett; M. Cheeseman; William B. Thorn-
burg; George H. Beach; and Harrington & Hazeltine.
Several settlements were growing in the days when Yuba County and
Marysville were passing through their infancy, but none attained large pro-
portions. The pioneers recall the town of Eliza, which at one time made
overtures for the county seat. In the early part of 1850, a movement was
made to establish this town, which was located south of Marysville on the
Feather River, and flourished only a short time. The Kennebec Com-
pany had purchased of John A. Sutter the Memal Ranch occupied by Jack
Smith, extending a mile along the river and three miles back, west of Rose's
Ranch. In March, 1850, the company removed to Downieville, took up thir-
teen river claims, dammed and turned the stream out of its channel, and
mined until the 1st of November, when they disorganized. This dissolution
was not caused by any trouble, but was thought to be an expedient measure.
The property was sold at auction, the members being the purchasers. When
it was found that the parties were to locate on land in the vicinity of Marys-
ville, the owners of the town offered one-fourth of their lots, if the company
would settle there and aid in building up the city. Before departing on
the Downieville trip, Dr. McCullough was appointed their attorney to con-
clude the bargain. Before consummating it the doctor, becoming alarmed,
went to Eliza and purchased an interest there. The advantages claimed for
this place were that boats could always reach it. The supposed obstructions
in the channel below Marysville, and the grounding of several boats in that
portion of the river, caused quite an alarm. However, the town of Eliza
never realized the hopes and intentions of its locators. Judge Phil N\ .
Keyser, who later became superior judge of Yuba and Sutter Counties,
was chosen alcalde, and a few buildings were erected ; but in June the place
collapsed and sank out of existence, the residents removing to other parts.
The town of Linda, after which a Yuba County judicial township was
named, was also short-lived. It was started ,';i the spring of 1850. After the
arrival of the party in the little steamer Linda at Rose's Ranch, the members
of the company persuaded Mr. Rose to lay out a town. Land was surveyed
and a number of lots were sold. After the survey, the steamer Linda went
72 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
up to the location with a large party of excursionists to inaugurate the new-
town. The party enjoyed themselves greatly, partaking freely of the refresh-
ments provided. Charles Lupton built a house there ; and a few shanties
and a small store were also erected. These, with the two old cabins of
Smith and Nye, comprised the settlement. Rose kept a ferry at that point,
and at a later date a bridge was built. In about two years the town was
abandoned. Its site now lies about thirty feet below the surface of the tail-
ings, where once grew the finest grain raised in Yuba County.
In the month of April, 1850, the proprietors of Marysville yielded to
the popular passion for city-making, and laid out the town of Featherton,
at the mouth of the Honcut. The following advertisement in the issue of
May 3, 1850, of the Sacramento Placer Times, explains their intentions :
"The undersigned proprietors of Marysville would inform the public
that they have located and laid out a city, to be called Featherton, at the
loot of the Willow Rapids and the head of low-water navigation on Feather
River, and being at the junction of the Honcut with Feather River, and
between fifteen and twenty miles above Marysville, the shares of which they
now offer to sell. From the advantageous situation of said city ; its eleva-
tion above high water ; located in a dense and lovely grove of evergreen
oak ; the head of navigation on Feather River, except in times of unusual
freshets ; lying along the great trail to the Feather River and Upper Trinity
mines, and within ten miles of the newly discovered mines on the Honcut,
the undersigned feel free to recommend the new city for beauty of scenery
and location, business advantages and permanent security of capital invested,
equal to any up-river city in California.
"Any person desirous of procuring shares in said city, can do so by
applying to E. Gillespie, Sacramento City, in brick building, corner Second
and J Streets ; to Barton Lee, of same place, third door on Second Street
from J; or to the proprietors, at their old office in Marysville, where the
terms and conditions may be known. It is the desire of the undersigned that
all who feel inclined to become interested in the said city would go upon
the ground and see the same for themselves, and the undersigned would
gladly offer any aid to persons wishing to visit Featherton, if they will call
at their ranch building in Marysville. The drawing will take place on the
15th day of May next, at Featherton, when the unsold shares will be pur-
chased. A steamer will leave Marysville on the morning of the said 15th
day of May for Featherton, passage, etc., free. The map of said city, and
one of the proprietors, may be seen on Thursday and Friday, the second
and third of May next, at said Gillespie's office, or at the Sutter House.
Signed, C. Covillaud & Company."
The new town met with such faint encouragement that the project was
shortly abandoned by the promoters.
More enduring were such places as McCouftney's Crossing, McDonald's
Mill, Parks Bar and Rose Bar — mining camps, only scant relics of which, .
however, remain at the present time.
In the middle of March, Charles Vero was born. His mother, whose
maiden name was Mary Luther, came across the plains, arriving here in
September, 1847, and was married in June or July, to Joseph Vero. It is
claimed that this was the first white child born in the county; and there
is no doubt but that he was the first white child born of parents married
within the present limits of the county.
The first legislature named the first Monday in April for the election
of county officers ; and as the day approached, political matters became lively.
The canvass developed a horde of candidates, and a lively contest ensued.
The election resulted in the selection of the following: County judge, Henry
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 73
P. Haun ; county attorney, Samuel B. Mulford ; county clerk, Edward D.
Wheeler; sheriff, Robert B. Buchanan; county recorder, Alfred Lawton;
county surveyor, J. B. dishing; county treasurer, L. W. Taylor; county
assessor, S. C. Tompkins ; coroner, S. T. Brewster. It is stated that about
S00 votes were cast at the election, 700 of these being cast in Marysville.
The district court of the eighth judicial district, presided over by Judge
William R. Turner, held its first session in Marysville on the 3rd of June.
H. P. Watkins was appointed district attorney by the court. The next day
the first grand jury was drawn.
In August the "Squatter" movement, which was progressing in the lower
cities, gained a foothold in Marysville. A Squatters' meeting took place in
the courthouse, and the subject of land titles and occupation was discussed.
The attendance adopted a series of resolutions, deprecating any unlawful
acts, and among other things resolving that it was wrong to settle upon city
property, as it conflicted seriously with the rights of third persons who pur-
chased for a valuable consideration.
The town had now become of such a size, and the surrounding county
so far developed, that the success of a newspaper seemed assured. Accord-
ingly, Col. Robert H. Taylor, on the 6th of August, issued the first number
of the Marysville Herald, the first newspaper north of Sacramento. The
possession of a journal for the dissemination of news gave new dignity to
the town and county. It served to herald their condition and resources
through different parts of the territory and the Eastern States.
The news of the death of President Zachary Taylor at Washington,
July 9, 1850, reached Marysville in September, and funeral obsequies were
appropriately observed, S. M. Miles (who afterward became the first mayor)
acting as grand marshal.
In the first part of September, 1850, there came on three days of the
hardest rain that had yet fallen. It raised the rivers and drove the miners
out. Supposing that another wet season had set in, the men in the mountains
laid in a heavy stock of supplies for the winter at enormous prices. The
weather became pleasant again, however, and there was no further rain of
any account until the following March. As a consequence, during the winter
these extra quantities of food and supplies were sent back to Marysville,
and disposed of at great sacrifice, the merchants being undersold one-half.
The State election was held in October, and Judge Stephen J. Field was
elected to represent Yuba County in the Assembly, receiving a large majority
of the votes cast. It was at this election that Jesse O. Goodwin was chosen
district attorney.
The epidemic of cholera broke out in California at about this time, and
swept over many parts of the State. Marysville was singularly free from
this scourge, as only one case was reported within its limits. Yuba City
had also only one person afflicted.
During the summer of this year, the water in the Feather River became
so low that it was impossbile for steamers to ascend to Marysville. This
interruption nearly suspended business transactions, and threatened to seri-
ously affect the progress of the town ; but in November the Governor Dana
appeared, and as she steamed up the river the enthusiasm of the people was
almost boundless. It was an occasion to be celebrated with festivities.
A feeling had long been gaining ground relative to the probability oi
Marysville becoming the principal of the "up-river" towns. As the popula-
tion became larger, the citizens decided to avail themselves of the benefits
and privileges gained by incorporating. Accordingly, on December 3, a
mass-meeting was held in the United States Hotel on D Street, of which
Gabriel N. Swezy was chosen chairman. A discussion followed as to the
74 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY '
practicability of petitioning the. legislature to pass the necessary act to incor-
porate the town. This meeting adjourned to meet on the 5th, after appoint-
ing a committee to prepare a set of resolutions. The next meeting, held on
the appointed evening, received the report of the committee and instructed
them to pursue their labors further, and make a draft for a special act for
the city charter. The next meeting was held on the 14th, but was so slimly
attended that action was delayed until the 17th, when a large gathering
assembled. The draft of the city charter was adopted and forwarded to the
legislative representative. Hon. Stephen J. Field, who finally secured the
passage of the act in the following February.
In 1850 Ramirez settled the Quintay Ranch, just east of Marysville,
and put a man named Quintay upon the tract to take care of it.
The first crop of corn to be grown in Yuba County was planted as early
as 1850 by John Morriet, who, in the previous year, had bought from the
grant-owners two miles of land along the river, and engaged in cattle-rais-
ing, using the Indians as assistants. In the fall of 1851 he sold to M. C.
Nye and removed from the county. Nye settled on the place and soon after
sold to Charles Covillaud and J. G. Cornell. The place was known for a
long time as the Morriet tract. For years it was occupied by Cornell. In
1852 Nye and Cornell raised a crop of barley, the first in the history of
the county, so far as is known. They purchased seed in San Francisco at
seven cents per pound and paid $100 for a plow. They paid a man named
EaMalfa, of Marysville, twelve and one-half cents a bushel for threshing it
with a small machine which he owned, and also paid seven and one-half cents
for cleaning. The grain sold for from four to five cents per pound. Hay-
cutting along the river was a great industry at that time, many parties engag-
ing in it who made no permanent settlement.
R. F. Piatt, H. F. Sadorus, and George Matsler settled on the south
Honcut in 1850 on Section 24, Township 17 north, Range 4 east, and engaged
in stock-raising. Piatt built a house in that year. James Bryden, whose
descendants still own most of this land, soon afterward settled along the
Honcut. Early in 1850 Bryden and Piatt sowed about ten acres of land in
barley. A fine crop was the result, but most of it was seized by the Indians.
In 1851 Richard Pegrim and -Dr. E. T. Wilkins settled on the river. Dr.
Wilkins had a fine library, which was scattered all over the surrounding-
country by the flood of 1851. This was the first "circulating library" in the
county of Yuba. Dr. Wilkins, who practiced many years in Marysville,
and owned a drug store there, later became superintendent of the State
Hospital at Napa. Richard Pegrim had a narrow escape during the flood
of 1851. He was carried down the stream while on horseback, but succeeded
in clinging to the branches of a tree as he passed. He remained in the tree
several hours, until assistance Came.
The early comers were all greatly troubled with scurvy and other dis-
orders, many dying from the effects of the disease, which was caused by a
lack of vegetables and acid foods. To supply this want, in 1850 and 1851
vast quantities of lime juice were imported in barrels; and in every saloon
the traveler and miner could be found imbibing the healthful drink.
Yuba County had now fairly entered upon its career of advancement.
As set off by the first legislature, February 18, 1850, the territory was des-
cribed as follows: "Beginning at the mouth of Honcut Creek, and running
up the middle of the same to its source ; thence following the dividing ridge
between Feather and Yuba Rivers to the summit of the Sierra Nevadas ;
thence east to the boundary of the State ; thence south following said bound-
ary to the northeast corner of El Dorado County ; thence in a westerly direc-
tion, following the northern boundary of said county, to the junction of the
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 73
north and middle forks of the American River ; thence in a northwestern
direction, following the boundary of Sutter County to the mouth of Bear
Creek ; thence running up the middle of Feather River to the mouth of Hon-
cut Creek, which was the place of beginning." The seat of justice was
located at Marysville.
On August 24, 1850, the first division of the county into townships was
made by the court of sessions. Fifteen large subdivisions were established.
Marysville Township No. 1, Long Bar No. 2, Rose No. 3, Foster No. 4, and
Townships 11 and 12 were within the present limits of Yuba County; the
first four were north of the Yuba River, the last two south of that stream.
On February 5, 1851, the legislature passed a bill incorporating the City
of Marysville, dividing it into four wards and fixing the first Monday of the
following March as the day for the election of the city officers — a mayor
and eight alderman. The election resulted in the choice of the following:
S. M. Miles, mayor ; and L. W. Ransom, S. C. Stambaugh, F. Schaeffer,
B. Tallman, J. G. Smith, D. W. C. Rice, S. C. Tompkins, and Charles Covil-
laud, aldermen. On the 10th the board met and organized. R. H. Taylor
was made clerk; Lewis Cunningham, treasurer; R. S. Olds, assessor; F. J.
McCann, city attorney; Albert Miller, city marshal.
The boundaries of the City of Marysville, as laid down in the original
charter, were as follows': "Commencing at high-water mark on the southern
bank of Yuba River, at a point one mile east of the public plaza, and run-
ning thence north two miles ; thence west to Feather River ; thence south,
following Feather River to high-water mark on the southern bank of Yuba
River ; thence east along the southern bank of Yuba River to the place of
beginning." The common council was authorized to establish a recorder's
court, but this power was taken away by the act passed April 10, 1852,
when the recorder's court was abolished as well as the office of recorder,
city attorney and city assessor.
The original Yuba County had embraced the territory now included in
Sierra and Nevada Counties ; but as the legal and county business increased,
it was found that the distances from the county seat were too great to accom-
modate the inhabitants. On April 25, 1851, an act entitled, "An Act dividing
the State into counties and establishing the seats of justice therein," was
passed, which made the new county of Nevada, taking away a portion of
the territory of Yuba County.
The winter of 1850-1851 was extremely dull. Money was scarce, and
business was greatly depressed.
With the coming of spring, business again assumed its former propor-
tions, and building commenced with renewed activity. In July, 1851, Cap-
tain Sutter had 200 acres under cultivation on Hock Farm. He was pursuing
the business of farming systematically and vigorously. In 1865 he left the
Coast; and thereafter he resided in Pennsylvania until his death.
On Monday, August 4, 1851, prospectors began work on the bar of the
Yuba River between the upper and lower landings of Marysville. A panful
of earth from the surface yielded seventy-five cents ; and a notice of claim
was immediately put up by the following gentlemen : T. Lowe, C. Lowe.
F. Lowe, S. R. Tribble, M. C. Nelson, J. J. Mechling, W. R. Taylor, J. J.
McLeary, L. B. Farish, L. S. Priddy, W. Meyers, T. Hispanger, and J. J.
Wellinton. Thinking that the operations on a mining location so near the
city would seriously affect the interests of the citizens, the following order
was issued by Mayor Miles :
"Proclamation, Mayor's office, August 11, 1851: It having been repre-
sented to me that sundry persons have laid out and staked off claims on the
bar in front of the landing for mining purposes; Now, therefore, I, S. M.
76 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
Miles, Mayor of the City of Marysville, do hereby caution all persons against
trespassing on or injuring the public grounds within the limits of the City
of Marysville, in any manner whatever. S. M. Miles, Mayor."
On August 9, 1851, the court of sessions divided the county into eleven
townships, the first six of which were within the present boundaries of Yuba
County, and the remaining five in what is now Sierra County.
Besides the regular business houses in Marysville in 1851, a profitable
trade was carried on by a large number of outdoor coffee ^stands. These
were located on the sidewalks along First Street, from the Plaza to C Street,
many of the proprietors paying as high as $150 per month for their locations.
Another illustration of the high rents paid during that early period, and
of the profits realized, is the following: In November, 1851, a gentleman was
paying $250 per month for an office five feet in width and twelve feet in
depth, and still made money notwithstanding. The commercial importance
of Marysville was now recognized by the outside world, for in 1851 Dr. J. B.
Pigne-Dupuytren was located there as vice-consul of France.
On Sunday afternoon, March 1, 1852, Eliza Sutter, the daughter of the
Captain, was married to George Engler of Marysville. The ceremony took
place at Hock Farm, and was performed by Judge Cushing of Marysville.
Visitors were present from nearly all parts of the State, and enjoyed fully
the celebrated hospitalities of Hock Farm.
In January, 1852, a movement was inaugurated to repeal the city charter.
The petition was drawn up and placed before the citizens for signatures ;
and a remonstrance w r as also prepared. On Thursday, February 12, Hon.
John A. Paxton presented the first petition to the Assembly. The opposing
petition was offered by Hon. J. H. Gardner. Great exertions were put forth
on each side, but the act was finally passed on April 10. It was entitled,
"An Act supplementary to An Act incorporating the City of Marysville."
On March 7, 1876, an act to reincorporate the City of Marysville was ap-
proved. The boundaries as laid down in this charter were as follows :
"Commencing on the south bank of Yuba River, opposite D Street in said
city; thence down the south bank ef said river to the center of Feather
River ; thence up the center of Feather River to a point opposite Sixteenth
Street in said city ; thence easterly along the north line of said Sixteenth
Street to E Street in said city; thence northerly along the west line of E
Street to the northwest corner of suburban Lot 5, Range D ; thence easterly
to the outer side of the levee as now located by said city ; thence along the
outer side of said levee until it intersects the Browns Valley road or grade ;
thence along the extreme southeasterly side of said Browns Valley road or
grade to a point where said Browns Valley grade or road intersects Swezy
Street; thence due south to the south bank of Yuba River; thence along the
south bank of Yuba River to the place of beginning."
In 1852, a census of the inhabitants in the county showed the population
to be 22*005. The eighth United States census, in 1860, credits the county
with a population of 13,668. The ninth census, in 1870, fixed the population
at 10,851, the county ranking twelfth in the State, while the estimated popu-
lation in 1877 was 11,000. It has varied little since.
After 1852 the Township of Marysville, which was bounded on the north
by Honcut Creek, was settled up rapidly and became well developed agri-
culturally. At present it is for the most part located within a reclamation
district known as District No. 10, rich in orchards, vineyards and grain fields.
The first schoolhouse was built on the Nelson place near the Honcut. The
school was attended by all the children in this part of the township. The
first bridge across the Honcut was built in 1855 by Jesse Mayhew. The
Honcut Hotel was built near the south end of the bridge. The Eight-mile
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 77
House, the Prairie House and a few other places were opened for the accom-
modation of travelers.
Marysville's first private hospital was known as Gray's City Hospital,
and was conducted by Dr. J. B. Gray, who advertised that he had leased for
hospital purposes the "large new house of Dr. Warfield on the corner of
Third and A Streets."
S. M. Miles, Marysville's first mayor, had a notary-public office at the
mayor's office. Among the practicing attorneys at that time were Jesse O.
Goodwin, S. B. Mulford, E. D. AVheeler, Charles H. Bryan, R. S. Messick,
and McCarty & Swezy.
Between 1850 and 1860 Yuba County had its full share of newspapers,
as follows : Marysville Herald, 1850 to 1858 ; Marysville Daily News, short-
lived; Daily National Democrat, 1858 to 1860; and the California Express,
1850 to 1863. These are more fully described in the chapter on The City
of Marysville.
Cunningham & Brumagim were among Marysville's first bankers, occu-
pying a fireproof building on D Street, three doors south of the United States
Hotel, which was then at the southeast corner of Third and D Streets.
Ira A. Eaton, L. H. Babb and William Hawley are among the early-day
merchants of Marysville whose memories lived long after them. Eaton,
in 1852 at the head of the mercantile firm of Eaton, Babb, & Hawley, became
a prominent grower and stock-raiser of Yuba County ; Babb became prom-
inently connected with the Marysville Water Company; and Hawley con-
tinued in the grocery and hardware business until his death. Others at that
time prominent in the mercantile life of Marysville were : John C. Fall &
Company; Cook, Baker & Company; A. T. Farish ; Ford & Goodwin; Eaton
& Green ; S. Sartwell ; Packard & Woodruff ; Lowe & Brothers ; Charles Lam-
bert; J. H. Adams; Treadwell & Company; John H. Jewett ; M. Cheeseman ;
William B. Thornburg; George H. Beach; Harrington & Hazeltine; Bryant
& Company ; Shaffer & Addison ; and Hochstadter & Brother.
The early-day merchants often were compelled to play hosts to their
patrons, as witness the following from a directory published in 1856 with
historical sketches :
"During the summer and fall of 1850, the Marysville merchants, by
their energy, liberality, and fair dealing, secured the trade which has made
the city what it now is. They omitted no exertions. Their customers were,
in a great measure, their guests while in town, eating and lodging in their
stores. The sick were cared for; the wants of all were judiciously antici-
pated; and Marysville grew beyond precedent, because it was, as was said,
'lively as a cricket,' and because its business men were glad to see every
new visitor. Steamboats plied regularly to and from Sacramento, bringing
heavy freights, and giving our levee a brisk and busy appearance. The
stores were nearly all on the Plaza, within a stone's throw of the landing,
and the goods were generally carried to the doors by Indians. A brick
building was built during the summer by G. N. Swezy, Esq.. on the south
side of Second Street, between D and High Streets.
"Rapid as was the progress, much capital was diverted from Marysville
by the mania for new towns, which raged extensively at that time. In
our immediate neighborhood, elegant cities without number, among which
were Plumas, Eliza, Veazie City, Hamilton, Linda, Featherton and Yateston,
were laid out upon paper, with public squares, halls, theaters, colleges, gar-
dens, parks, etc. They were divided generally into forty to fifty shares,
which were readily disposed of at $1000 per share, half cash, and the balance
at most any time. Nearlv every man who had means bought a share in some
town which he could not have found with the aid of all the civil engineers
78 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
in the State. Without a single exception, the towns above mentioned be-
came exploded humbugs."
The favorite material for the construction of permanent buildings and
dwellings in the early fifties was brick ; as early as 1852 several kilns were in
active operation. This led for a time to Marysville being known as "the city
of bricks." Brick is still the favorite material where permanency is sought.
The literary and musical talent of these early days was shown in con-
tributions to newspapers and periodicals, and the frequent private musical
entertainments. In July, 1851, a song entitled "The Love-Knot," composed
by Stephen C. Massett, with words by Hon. Mrs. Norton, was published
in New York. Massett, after disposing of his interest in the Herald, and
before departing on his Eastern trip, in December, 1851, gave an excellent
entertainment, bringing out the local talent in recitation and music, both
vocal and instrumental. About the middle of February, 1852, a work was
issued upon whose title page appeared the following: "Entewa, the Moun-
tain Bird, a Romance Founded on Facts, by J. R. Poynter, M. D., Marys-
ville, California, 1852." This was claimed to be the first California novel.
The scene was laid in this State and opened in the summer of 1849. The
newspapers frequently contained able contributions in prose and poetry
from local writers.
The bank failures in San Francisco, in 1855, affected business in Marys-
ville quite seriously, but it quickly recovered. In November, 1852, the county
surveyor, B. D. Scott, in his report to the State surveyor general, stated that
the total yield of gold in Yuba County, during the preceding year, was
$16,000,000. The total amount of gold shipped to San Francisco in 1857 by
Lowe Brothers & Company, Reynolds Brothers, and Mark Brumagim &
Company was $10,175,000; and from January 1 to June 30, 1858, it was
$4,350,000, making the total shipment in a year and a half, $14,525,000.
The wonderful prosperity of Yuba County was seriously affected in
1858, when the Fraser River excitement occurred and took out about 20,000
people from California. In 1860 and 1861 about the same number crossed
the Sierras to the Washoe diggings in Nevada State. These excitements
tended to depopulate the county and retard its progress. Buildings which
before were renting for $600 would not sell for that amount after the exodus;
but soon matters became more tranquil and equalized, and the county began
to grow and prosper again.
In 1858, the State Fair was held for five days in Marysville, commenc-
ing on August 23.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 79
CHAPTER VI
NAVIGATION ON THE RIVERS
Previous to the year 1849, the navigation of the rivers above Sacramento
City was confined to the voyages of canoes, whaleboats and small sailboats.
These were used by the settlers to facilitate their journeys from one settle-
ment to another, and to transport the supplies from the depots nearer the
metropolis. Illustrative of the difficulties attending early navigation and
transportation, the following may be mentioned. In 1848, by the aid of an
Indian, a man living in this vicinity felled a sycamore tree and with axes
fashioned it into the form of a canoe. In this frail and clumsy vessel he
made the voyage to San Francisco, taking with him a barrel of corned beef,
a present from Michael Nye to his brother-in-law, William Foster. Cordua
started a trading post at his ranch and brought goods from San Francisco
up the Sacramento and Feather Rivers in a boat.
The winter of 1848-1849 was dry, and during the first part of the season
the water in the Feather River was extremely low. Vernon, in Sutter
County at the junction of the Sacramento and Feather Rivers, was then sup-
posed to be the head of navigation, and it was at this point that most of the
supplies for the northern mines were unloaded from the sailing vessels. It
is said that after the location of the town, in April, 1849, several ships from
Eastern ports discharged their cargoes at the landing-. In the spring of this
year whaleboats went up Bear River as far as Johnson's Crossing, loaded
with miners. They passed over the overflowed lands, and not up the stream,
as the current there was too rapid. As yet the steamers had not visited the
incipient city on the Yuba, the carrying trade being confined to sailing ves-
sels. About the first of July, 1849, the river was so low that they grounded
on Russian Crossing, a shoal about fifteen miles below Vernon. In the
summer of 1849, Nicolaus Allegeier had a launch which he employed in trans-
porting goods from San Francisco to supply his store at Nicolaus. It regis-
tered about fifteen tons and was propelled by oars and the wind ; an old
sailor, Jacob Walldorff, commanded, and had a crew of half a dozen Indians.
During the last portion of 1849, a large number of whaleboats plied between
Sacramento and Marysville, carrying goods and provisions. In the fall of
this year and the spring of the next, large steamers came around the Horn
and went up Feather River as far as Nicolaus. In 1849, a government vessel,
with supplies from Camp Far AVest, came to Nicolaus, and the cargo was
hauled in wagons to the fort.
The winter of 1849-1850 was exceedingly wet, the whole country being
flooded. The Feather River was high and the river steamers made their
advent just in time to ascend the channel as far as Cordua's Ranch, or Yuba-
ville, as it was called shortly after, and before, the adoption of the name
Marysville. This change of the terminal point of navigation from Vernon
caused its fall, the rise of the upper town proving the destruction of the
lower. In the latter part of 1849, the Linda Company, in a vessel called the
Linda, arrived after a passage around the Horn, and took the ship to Sacra-
mento. They brought with them the machinery for a small stern-wheel
steamer. This was transferred to a scow at that place, and the crude and
80 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
diminutive steamer was named the. Linda. As soon as it was constructed, a
cargo of freight was loaded for a man named Ferguson, who kept a store at
Barton's Bar. In the last part of 1849, about December, the little steamer
came up the river and went as far as the location of Rose's Ranch. When
the Indians along the river saw this strange object ascending the stream,
propelled by an unseen power, and heard it puff, they thought an evil spirit
was pursuing them and fled to the woods. After seeing it land at the bank,
and on perceiving that the whites were not at all afraid, they came out and
expressed themselves much pleased with the new and strange kind of boat.
During January, 1850, a small side-wheel steamer, the Lawrence, under
command of Capt. E. C. M. Chadwick, made her appearance at Marysville.
She had been built in the East, and was shipped around the Horn in sections.
There seems to be some difference in opinion as to which steamer, the Linda
or the Lawrence, deserves the credit of being the pioneer; but there appears
no reasonable doubt that the Linda was the first to ascend the Feather and
Yuba Rivers. The Lawrence continued to make regular trips between
Marysville and Sacramento, proving exceedingly profitable to her owners,
and very convenient to the traveling public. The fare to Sacramento was
$25 ; and freight, including the blankets of the passengers, was eight cents
a pound. For $1.50 a berth could be secured, but the occupant was obliged
to furnish his own bedding. The success of this boat, and the immense
amount of travel, soon brought other steamers onto the route. The third
boat to appear was the Governor Dana, in- April, 1850. She was a stern-
wheeler, of about eighty tons register. In April, 1850, the fare from Marys-
ville to San Francisco was $35.
About the middle of 1851, it was found that the snags imbedded in the
bottom of the river were likely to prove serious impediments to its naviga-
tion, and might stop it altogether, a result that would prove extremely disas-
trous to Marysville. The business men, as well as other prominent citizens,
met, and agreed to pay by subscription for the removal of the obstructions.
The contract was let, and the labor commenced. The work was completed
before the rainy season set in, but the subscribers to the fund were not all
. prompt in fulfilling their promises. It was only by great exertions that the
amounts subscribed could be collected.
On August 16, 1851, the steamer Fawn was blown up on the river, sev-
eral miles below Marysville.
In 1854, despite the fact that river transportation between San Francisco
and Marysville was sought by many vessels, the California Steam Navigation
Company and the Citizens' Steam Navigation Company were formed to
compete for the business. Of the latter concern, John H. Jewett and Peter
Decker, who formed the well-known banking firm of Marysville, were presi-
dent and trustee, respectively.
In 1874 a new line of steamers was started by D. E. Knight, W. T. Ellis,
and J. R. Rideout. The steamer C. M. Small was purchased and placed on
the route to San Francisco. In 1875 the company built the D. E. Knight at
Marysville. These two steamers carried freight up the Feather River until
the early nineties, when the filling of the channel with mining detritus,
pouring in from the mountains at each freshet, caused navigation to cease.
A movement is on foot at the present time to induce the United States
government and the State of California to interest themselves in the reestab-
lishment of navigation on the Feather River. The success of the C. M.
Small and of the D. E. Knight is being used as proof of what can be done if
navigation is restored on the stream. The C. M. Small was built in this
State, and was of 120 tons register. She was a stern-wheel, low-water boat.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 81
The Knight was of 160 tons register, and also a stern-wheel, low-water boat.
Both were freight-boats, carrying grain and produce to San Francisco and
returning loaded with merchandise. Four barges were operated in connec-
tion with these boats. They were the Hope, Marysville, Sutter, and Para-
dise. During the period just prior to the withdrawal of the boats on account
of the condition of the channels of the Yuba and Feather Rivers, all mer-
chandise destined for Marysville was landed either at Yuba City 'or on the
opposite bank of the Feather River, where a small freight-shed was main-
tained. From this point the freight was hauled into Marysville by teams.
During the winter and seasons of high water, however, the boats were able
to reach the foot of D Street and land at the levee, a great accommodation
and saving to the merchants of Marysville.
CHAPTER VII
TRANSPORTATION IN EARLY AND LATER DAYS
The passengers and goods having been landed, the next question which
arose in the early days was the best manner of conveying them to the moun-
tain camps. In the absence of more modern methods, the mules were
brought into requisition, and upon the backs of these animals vast quantities
of merchandise were placed, securely bound and tightly fastened to the pack-
ing saddle. The more wealthy class of travelers were able to afford the
luxury of a mule-back ride in preference to the tiresome and unpleasant
jaunt on foot.
PACK TRAINS AND WAGON TRAINS
The lack of roads in the mountains and hills made packing by mules an
imperative necessity. This method of transporting was early resorted to.
In the latter part of 1849 and the early part of 1850, W. H. Parks, who later
represented Yuba County in the State Senate and who became a prominent
and influential resident of Marysville, ran a pack train from Marysville to
Foster's Bar. In February of the latter year he sold out to J. B. Whitcomb
and Charles Daniels. During the summer of 1850, John Seaward, who a few
years ago died at his home in Linda Township, ran a pack train from Downie-
ville to Foster's Bar. He connected with an ox team from Marysville. In
1850 there were five or six trains, some including as many as eighty or ninety
mules. In November, 1852, a train of over 100 pack mules left Marysville
for the extreme northern mines. For years these trains were passing to and
from Marysville.
As soon as wagons could be imported or manufactured, they were placed
on the roads in the valleys and on the lower hills. With from two to four
wagons attached to each other (they were often referred to as "prairie
schooners"), vast quantities of freight were conveyed to the various stores
and camps. Oxen were brought into requisition and the wild horses were
trained for use in the lengthy teams required. The whole number of mules
owned in Marysville, and which were packed in this city for the adjacent
towns, was above 4000 at one time, and the wagons employed in transporting
merchandise numbered over 400.
82 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY '
STAGE LINES
Stage lines were inaugurated at an early date, the principal run being
from Sacramento. During the summer of 1850 it was with difficulty that
passengers sufficient to fill one stage daily on this route could be found. A
year from that time five stages and one omnibus capable of carrying twenty
persons were daily crowded with passengers. In December the stage made
the run from Marysville to Sacramento in four hours and twenty-five minutes.
An automobile now covers the same route in less than two hours. Another
line was running daily between Marysville and Parks Bar, the fare being
$4. Later the stage routes \vere extended to Downieville and to La Porte.
Another line served the Smartsville, Grass Valley and Nevada sections.
Auto stages now have taken their place, touching at many mountain points
out of Marysville.
The California Stage Company
The California Stage Company, which dated its inception from 1853, and
which had its Marysville headquarters where the ruins of the Marysville
Woolen Mills now stand, had a capitalization of $1,000,000. The company,
comprised of pioneer stage men, ran stages from Sacramento to Portland.
Ore., receiving patronage from a number of way stations. They also had
lines from Marysville to the various mining districts. The advent of rail-
roads proved the means of breaking up this organization.
An Old Landmark
An interesting relic of the days of the stagecoach and the six-in-hand is
the old stable still standing in a remarkable state of preservation on the side
of the road at the Empire Ranch near Smartsville. Across the road from
the old "change station" still stands the road-house where the passengers
were served meals and refreshments in Argonaut days. Living here are the
children — a son and two daughters — of Thomas Mooney, who for many years
was "mine host" at the Empire Ranch station. It is claimed that this is the
only remaining stage station used by the California Stage Company, which
before the advent of the railroad handled all passenger traffic from one end
of California to the other, and into the mining sections of the Sierra Nevadas.
The timbers, placed in the barn in 1852, the year Thomas Mooney settled
at Empire Ranch, are seemingly as substantial as ever. These timbers were
hewn from the tree, and two only were necessary to reach the entire length
of the gable, about 100 feet. No nails were used in the placing of these
timbers, and they are still held together by the wooden pegs. The mangers
where the stage horses rested up for the next day's relay are still intact.
THE PONY EXPRESS
One day in the spring of 1923 there was placed on the side of a building
on Second Street, in Sacramento, a bronze marker carrying this legend :
"Site of Terminal of Pony Express, 1860-1861. Marked by Daughters of the
American Revolution, Sacramento and San Francisco Bay Chapters, 1923."
Early days of the Civil War were lived again in spirit when this marker
of the Western terminal of the famous old pony express was unveiled. The
significance of the pony express, and its contribution to civilization, were
recounted by speakers who recalled the days when the riders galloped at
breakneck speed through the streets of Sacramento on their way to Hang-
town, now Placerville, and thence East. It was recalled how Marysville,
and way-places between Sacramento and Marysville, were eventually added
to the route covered by these riders.
Early in May, 1860, the overland pony express was inaugurated. This
was a matter of absorbing interest to everybody on the Pacific Coast, and
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY S3
particularly to the tradespeople of California. Be it remembered that the
pony express preceded the telegraph as well as the railroad. It opened up
communication with the Atlantic seaboard in the wonderfully short time, as
was then thought, of ten days. Prior to that, the speediest way of transmit-
ting intelligence from one side of the continent to the other was by steamship,
by way of Panama, and that consumed often four and never less than three
weeks. The mail steamers at first arrived only monthly, but later perhaps
oftener ; and the time between steamers, when great events were transpiring
in other parts of the world, seemed distressingly prolonged.
The advent of the pony express, therefore, was hailed with great delight
by the newspaper men of the Coast, as well as by the merchants and others
having close business relations with the East. Shortening the time of com-
munication across the continent to less than one-half was regarded as some-
thing extraordinary, as it really was, considering the manner in which the
feat was accomplished.
For the purposes of this express a line of nearly 200 stations was estab-
lished on the shortest practicable route between St. Joseph, on the Missouri
River, and Sacramento. These stations were well supplied with the fleetest
horses that could be procured. There were three or four at each station, and
many hundreds in all.
Besides the keepers of the stations, the requisite number of daring- boys
of light weight were employed for riders. Of these there were more than
half a hundred, and among them, young William Cody, afterwards better
known as Buffalo Bill. He was then but fourteen years of age, but a man
in courage. George Smethurst, farmer-miner, who resides at this time near
Browns Valley, in Yuba County, was also one of these lads.
Each rider, for his run, would make a hundred miles, a little more or less,
without stopping a moment for rest, changing horses perhaps a dozen times
on his stretch, jumping from one foaming steed, with his light letter pouch,
to the back of a fresh one already saddled and awaiting him — and away he
would speed like the wind. The ride of John Gilpin was not to be compared
with the ride of those brave boys. Some of them were killed by the Indians,
but that did not deter others from taking their places. They were ordered
to make time, and they always made it.
The Arrival of the First Rider
Those who were here to witness it will never forget the arrival of the
first of these express messengers in Sacramento. It was an occasion of great
rejoicing; and everybody, big and little, old and young, turned out to see the
fun. All business for the time was suspended ; even the courts adjourned, in
celebration of the event.
A large number of the citizens of all classes, grave and gay, mounted on
fast horses, rode out some miles on the line to meet the incoming wonder.
The waiting was not long. The little rider upon his blooded charger, under
whip and spur, came down upon them like a meteor, but made not the slight-
est halt to greet his many visitors.
Then began a race of all that waiting throng, over the stretch back to the
city, the like of which has never been seen. It may have been rivaled in
speed and confusion by some of the cavalry disasters during the war that
presently followed; but the peaceful people of Sacramento, I am sure,
never beheld anything of the kind before or afterwards. The whole caval-
cade, shouting and cheering, some waving banners and bareheaded, riding
at the top of their speed, dashing down J Street, might have been taken, had
it occurred on the plains, for a band of wild Comanches ; but the little mail-
carrier paid no attention to them and kept in the lead.
84 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
If there was one in the whole throng more conspicuous than the rest,
and who might have been taken for the chief of the tribe, it was Charles
Crocker, who was afterwards so prominently associated with the great Cen-
tral Pacific Railroad enterprise.
Regulations and Service
It ought to be noted here that all letters to be sent by the pony express
were required to be written on the thinnest of paper. Even newspapers to
be sent by that express were printed on tissue paper and sent as letters.
But light as they were, the charge upon each was $5 ; and at that high rate
of postage the enterprise continued to be well patronized until its usefulness
was finally cut off by the completion of the overland telegraph.
The pony express was the conception of Alexander Majors, one of the
most energetic of all the far-seeing men of that period. Whether, during
the two years or less of its existence, its revenues met the heavy outlay of
the enterprise is not now known; but that they did, is to be inferred from the
fact that before the service ceased, the government, assuming control over it,
reduced the rate of postage from $5 to $1 on each half-ounce of mail matter
carried by the pony express.
The pony express required to do its work nearly 500 horses, about 190
stations, 200 station-keepers, and more than 100 riders.
William Cody, in one continuous trip, rode 384 miles, stopping only for
meals and to change horses.
The pony express was a semi-weekly service. Fifteen pounds was the
limit of the weight of the waterproof mail-bag and its contents. The postage
or charge was $5 on a letter of half an ounce. The limit was 200 letters.
The shortest time ever made by the pony express was seven days and
seventeen hours. This was in March, 1861, when it carried President Lin-
coln's message. At first, telegraphic messages were received at St. Joseph
up to 5 p. m. of the day of starting and sent to Sacramento and San Francisco
on the express, arriving at Placerville, then a temporary terminus.
The pony express was suspended on October 27, 1861, on the completion
of the transcontinental telegraph line.
FIRST LOCAL TELEGRAPH LINES
The first local telegraph line was completed on September 11, 1853. It
extended from the business quarter of San Francisco to the Golden Gate and
was used for signaling vessels. The first long line connected Marysville,
Sacramento, Stockton, and San Jose. This was completed on October 24,
1853. Another line was built about the same time from San Francsico to
Placerville, by way of Sacramento.
THE RAILROADS
California Pacific Railroad
The first close connection by rail and boat between Marysville and San
Francisco was over the California Pacific Railroad, more generally known as
the Benicia and Marysville road. By rail, the passenger proceeded from
Marysville to Suisun, to South Vallejo by way of Cordelia and Bridgeport,
taking at Vallejo the boat New World to San Francisco. The fare to San
Francisco was $5.50 one way; to Sacramento, $2.50. The Marysville office
of this company was at Tenth and E Streets, where the office building stood
for many years after the road was discontinued, becoming headquarters later
for the branch Marysville-Oroville road.
It was in March, 1853, that the survey of the Benicia and Marysville
railroad was completed. An election was called by the city council for
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 8 5
February 28, 1854, on the question of a subscription of $800,000 for the Marys-
ville and Benicia .National Railroad Company. The vote was 953 in the
affirmative and but thirty-six against. On the 4th of March the amount was
subscribed. Benicia promised $250,000. This project was allowed to drop
until 1857, when another survey was made. In August, 1858, a contract was
entered into with D. C. Haskin to construct the roadbed, lay the track, and
place the road in running order, with all the necessary buildings, etc. ' The
price fixed was $3,500,000. In February, 1869, a few months before the
completion of the Central Pacific, this road was finished to Sacramento.
When the former commenced operations, a lively opposition sprang up.
Great efforts were made to build up Vallejo, and make it the central dis-
tributing and receiving city of the State. During the year 1871 the company,
having completed its branch road to Marysville, annexed the Napa Valley
and other roads. They also acquired the vessels of the California Steam
Navigation Company, and had almost a monopoly of the inland trade. It
was at about that time a company was organized by the wealthy owners of
the California Pacific road to construct a railroad from the northern part of
the Sacramento Valley to Ogden, to compete with the Central Pacific. These
plans were foiled by the owners of the overland road buying the majority of
shares in the California Pacific, and thereby gaining control.
The location of the track proved faulty from Knights Landing to Marys-
ville through the tules. It was always contended that if the line had been
run from Knights Landing east to the bank of the Feather River, the road
would have been more successful. In the winter of 1871-1872, the flood
destroyed the bridges, tracks, and trestles across the tules. This particular
branch of the road is now owned by the Southern Pacific Company, serving
Marysville and Oroville, and is known as the Knights Landing route. It
connects Davis, Woodland, Knights Landing, Marysville and Oroville.
California Northern Railroad
This company was incorporated on June 29, 1860, and permanently
organized on January 15, 1861, with a capital stock of $1,000,000. Ground
was broken on January 22, 1861. The road was completed between Marys-
ville and Oroville in 1864, and the opening celebration was held on February
15. Butte County loaned its credit to this company for the construction of
the road to the amount of $209,000 of county bonds, at 10 per cent, secured
by first-mortgage bonds on the road. The common council of Marysville,
on October 7, 1861, passed an ordinance granting the right of way for railroad
purposes to the California Northern Railroad. This was vetoed by the
mayor, Hon. C. B. Fowler. On February 2, 1863, another similar ordinance
was passed, which was approved.
California Central Railroad
This road was commenced from Folsom to Marysville in 1858. In 1861
grading had been finished for two-thirds of the distance, and the track was
laid as far as Lincoln in Placer County. The contractors were C. L. Wilson
& Company. The first officers were : John C. Fall, president ; William
Hawley, vice-president; John A. Paxton, treasurer; J. D. Judah, chief engin-
eer ; Ira A. Eaton, secretary ; John C. Fall, William Hawley, Ira A. Eaton,
John H. Kinkade, H. P. Catlin, John A. Paxton, and S. T. AVatts, directors.
The name was changed to the California and Oregon Railroad.
The common council of Marysville, on October 7, 1868, passed an ordi-
nance granting to the California and Oregon Railroad Company the right ol
way and certain privileges in relation to erection of buildings, tracks, etc.
This is the road that now serves Marysville as part of the Southern Pacific
Company's system. A portion of it is classed as Central Pacific property.
86 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
Western Pacific Railroad
Where now stand the freight sheds of the Western Pacific Railroad
Company in Marysville, the first freight and passenger boats to ply the Yuba
River had a landing overlooking the City Plaza, then bounded by the river,
First Street, E Street, and High Street. About 1902, the Western Pacific
people began the work of securing rights of way for their tracks through
Yuba and Sutter Counties. On September 14, 1904, the city council granted
the first Western Pacific franchise (No. 68) to operate over the streets and
levees of the city. Subsequently franchises covering certain details not
included in the original were granted. (See numbers 69, 83, 84, 100, 125,
136, and 137.)
Through the original franchise, the Western Pacific took over about one-
half of the city's costly levee system, agreeing thenceforth to defray all
expense involved in the change of the height and the broadening of the
embankment, and guaranteeing to keep the levee on which its tracks stand
freshet-proof.
Entering the city from the north, the franchise covers the levee from
Sixteenth Street, opposite the City Cemetery, westerly along the north levee
to the County Hospital, and down the K Street levee to the company's
passenger depot at Fifth and K Streets, thence bearing southerly and easterly
to the Front Street levee to a point opposite B Street. Spur-track privileges
have been granted the company to reach local canneries and warehouses.
With the Western Pacific, Southern Pacific and Sacramento Northern Rail-
roads exchanging switching privileges in Marysville, the city is ever in a
position to provide up-to-date warehouse accommodations to those seeking
to enter the local field.
Earlier Attempts
The attention of enterprising men was early called to the feasibility and
benefits of a railroad through this section of the valley. In November, 1851,
Charles J. Whiting, State surveyor general, arrived in Marysville, having
been over the road between Sacramento and this city with a view to ascertain
its adaptability to a railroad. The subject was agitated and subscriptions
were taken in Sacramento. Two other schemes were talked of, a railroad
from Marysville to Benicia, and another to Vernon. At a meeting held in
Sacramento on June 26, 1852, the subject of a railroad from that city to
Marysville was discussed, and a company called the Sacramento Valley
Railroad Company was formed with a capital of $1,000,000, shares $50 each.
The directors were : John C. Fall, W. T. Barbour, Governor Bigler, J. P.
Overton, J. B. Haggin, William McNulty, W. S. O'Connor, Tod Robinson,
W. B. Schellinger, and General Whiting. The people of Marysville did not
take kindly to this road, but favored the construction of one to Benicia. The
subject of a transcontinental road was generally discussed in 1853, Marys-
ville pressing the claim of Noble's Pass for the route through the Sierras.
Sacramento Valley Railroad
In 1854 this company was projected to run a road to Marysville from
Sacramento by way of the foothills. The work was commecned in February,
1855, although little grading was done until April. In June the first vessel
loaded with iron and materials arrived from Boston. On the 4th of July, the
frame to the floor of one of the cars was put together, being the first work
done on a railroad car in this State. The first rail was placed in position on
the 9th of August, and two days afterwards the first car ever propelled on a
railroad track in this State was run for a short distance on this road. This
was only a handcar, but on the 14th a platform car was placed on the
track, and the locomotive "Sacramento," made in the East, arrived in Sacra-
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY N7
mento City. On November 13, the first passenger car was put on the road
On February 3, 1856, the road was completed from Sacramento to Folsom!
The cost of this division of twenty-two miles was about $1,000,000. The
formal opening of the road took place on the 22nd of February. The officers
in 1856 were : C. K. Garrison, president ; W. P. Sherman, vice-president ; H.
R. Payson, secretary ; J. P. Robinson, superintendent ; H. Havens, cashier ;
C. K. Garrison, E. Jones, W. P. Sherman, J. P. Robinson, Levi' Parsons!
Charles L. Wilson, H. E. Robinson, Theodore F. Mays, John C. Fall, J. r!
Rollinson, E. Burr, C. R. Goodwin, and Edward Flint, directors.
It was the scheme of the company, after this division of the road had
been finished, to Folsom, to : extend the road to Oroville, crossing the Yuba
River about ten miles above Marysville. This was to be done because the
citizens of Marysville favored the Benicia project, and would not subscribe
to the fund for the construction of this road.
Present Railway Facilities
No city of Northern California is at this time better provided with
railroad facilities, both for freight and for passenger traffic, than is Marys-
ville. Besides the Southern Pacific and AVestern Pacific Railroads, the city
has the splendid service of the Sacramento Northern, an electric road that
provides a train for passengers about every two hours, north and south,
Sacramento and Chico being the terminals. The Western Pacific Railroad
Company in 1921 purchased the Northern Electric Railroad, now known as
the Sacramento Northern, connecting up Sacramento and Chico and Oroville,
and maintaining a branch to Colusa. It is expected that the electric road
will be extended by its new owners to Red Bluff and Redding, and way-
points. The Northern Electric was built as far as Marysville, starting in
Sacramento, in 1904. Shortly thereafter, the company purchased the street-
car line between Marysville and Yuba City, and made it part of its system.
Remembers First Train
A. C. Irwin, pioneer resident of this city, agent for the railroad company
in Marysville when a young man, and later member of the State Railroad
Commission, remembers the first trains to enter Marysville. He recalls that
there was but one engine on the run, and it was worked overtime. The train
southbound would leave early in the morning for Roseville, as a passenger
train, and return in the early afternoon as a freight train. It would then
make an afternoon trip to Roseville as a freight train, and return as a passen-
ger train. That was in 1869. "The northerly terminus then was Marys-
ville," says Mr. Irwin, "and the freight was carried to all points north and
east in great freight wagons. It was some sight to witness these 'prairie
schooners.' "
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
CHAPTER VIII
GOLD MINING IN YUBA COUNTY
Old Landmark at Timbuctoo
A wonderfully preserved relic of the days when Yuba County was at the
zenith of its commercial importance, because of the output of its gold mines,
is a building yet standing in Timbuctoo, suburb of the once famed Smarts-
ville mining camp, nestling in the mountains eighteen miles east of Marys-
ville. For many years, in Argonaut days, this structure was the local head-
quarters for Wells, Fargo & Company's Express and the Adams Express
Company. It is estimated that several million dollars' worth of gold dust
passed through this building. Built of brick made near its site, the building,
up to a few years ago, retained the huge iron doors peculiar to pioneer days,
which did double service as protection from fire and from robbers. Within
150 yards from this building the early-day miner, working with crude appli-
ances, took from the soil all the way from $250 to $400 a day. "I'm buying
blue chips tonight, boys ; she is coming my way," was the way the sturdy
miner had of expressing satisfaction with his day's work.
The sign remaining upon the store, and still decipherable, reads : "Stew-
art Bros., owners, have for sale dry goods, groceries and provisions, boots
and shoes. Wells, Fargo & Co.; Lowe Bros. & Co.; exchange for sale;
hardware, etc." Though painted last in 1859, by a man now residing in New
Orleans, the lettering of the sign still stands out plainly.
The store building is the only remnant left of a once bustling Timbuctoo.
The Landmarks Committee of the Native Sons and Native Daughters of
Marysville, and of the Federated Women's Clubs of Northern California,
are planning to restore the building to its original shape, and to place a
marker upon it, in order that it may be preserved, and that its history may
be handed down to future generations.
The Timbuctoo Hotel stood on the opposite side of the street from the
express office. Nothing is left of that structure, it having gone the way of
all Timbuctoo, which same is the story of many an old California mining
camp that nourished in the days gone by.
Early-day Terms, Customs, and Methods
To the Argonauts who delved for gold in Yuba County became known
every feature of the work peculiar to their for the most part newly adopted
vocation. Among these were the location of leads, coyote or hill diggings —
evidences of which still exist near Marysville and Browns Valley — surface
diggings, wet surface diggings, fluming, drift gold, prospecting, panning,
the cradle, sluices, riffles, tailings, and quicksilver methods. The life and
the methods associated with mining in Yuba County were similar to those
in other portions of the State.
The miner constituted a class of the genus homo peculiar to itself —
active, restless, energetic, fearless, practical to the last degree. To his mind,
everything had a value in proportion to its use. Governed by strange
whims, he would name his claim, or nickname his companion, after any
peculiarity of person, incident or fancied resemblance. Many were the ludi-
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 89
crous names applied to mining camps, the reason for the giving of which is a
riddle to us now, though no doubt there was a good one to the mind of the
christener. With the naming of each, there is no doubt something of interest
connected, but it is often impossible to learn just what, as the miners who
later worked there knew nothing about it. They cared little what or how a
place was named, so long as they could strike "pay dirt." And yet, the
reason for the name is often self-evident or easily inferred. Frequently a
new man would come along and ask the miners where he could go to work.
Not caring to be bothered with him, they would point out some spot, occa-
sionally where they thought there was nothing whatever. If the man made a
strike there, they would call it "Greenhorn Bar," or "Fool's Luck," or
something of that kind. If a man became "dead broke," but finally made one
last effort and "struck it rich," he would call his location "Last Chance," or
"Murphy's Luck." "Cut-eye Foster's Bar" was so named because Foster, the
locator, had a cut over his eye. The precise reasons for naming the follow-
ing are beyond our knowledge, and we simply give the names, leaving the
fertile imagination of the reader to supply the rest : Whiskey Gulch, Lousy
Level, Liar's Flat, Shirt-tail Bend, Moonshine Creek, Old Hat Hollow, Stud
Horse Canyon, Grub Ravine, Pinch 'em Tight, Jackass Ravine ; and there are
many others of equally suggestive import. A man's full name was seldom
known, except by a personal friend, as it was customary to call him by his
given name, or to apply a nickname on account either of some personal
peculiarity or of the place from which he came, such as Bob Kentuck, Big
Jones, Red Mike, Whiskey Bill, Sandy Jim, Judge, Three-finger Jack, Curly
Sam, Poker Bob, Limpy Jim, Big-foot Charlie, Texas Jack, Missouri Bill.
The habit of carrying revolvers and bowie knives was universal in the
early days, and not until 1852 and 1853 was this practice discontinued. In
addition to the never failing revolver, most of the emigrants brought from
the States rifles and shotguns, which were found inconvenient and useless in
the mines, and were placed in the stores to be disposed of or thrown away.
The condition of society was such that every man had to rely upon himself
for protection. The revolver and knife being conveniently carried, these were
always ready to protect life and property, or avenge real or fancied insult.
The Chinese found abundant employment in the mines in early days.
Soon after their first appearance, a prejudice against them began to gain
ground among the miners, although with few exceptions they were allowed
to work peaceably on their claims. After claims were deserted by white
miners, economical Chinese located them again, and by diligent toil managed
to make them pay handsomely.
At first, large numbers of Indians were employed by firms and mining
companies, and many of the more independent Digger Indians worked for
themselves. Knowing nothing of the value of the gold, at first they were
contented if they had enough to eat, and some beads and sugar thrown in
for luxuries. Later, however, they began to learn that this yellow sand was
worth something, and refused to dig for the whites, preferring to keep the
result of their labors with which to buy blankets, dresses, beads, etc., for
which they would no longer pay the fancy prices at first charged. They had
in 1848 and 1849 given a cup of gold for a cup of beads, and a pound of gold
for a pound of sugar. Theodore Sicard was a favorite of a chief, and thus
managed to accumulate a large amount of "spangle gold." One of the old
residents said that Sicard showed him four or five claret bottles full of this
gold, and judged that he must have had at least $70,000, all of which he had
obtained from the Indians. David Parks got rich in 1848 trading with the
Indians at Parks Bar. William Foster worked Indians at Foster's Bar early
90 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
in 1849. All along- the river, in 1848, the whites had Indians to help them.
Claude Chana used them near Rose Bar, close to the present site of Smarts-
ville. He said that the largest day's work he ever saw was done in Septem-
ber, 1848, at Rose Bar. Four Indians who were working for two white men
washed out $1400, an average of $350 each. The white men did nothing but
superintend the work and take the gold.
Development of Hydraulic Mining and Dredge Mining
Through all the early days the miners leaned upon the primitive methods
we have outlined ; but in later years they developed the hydraulic mining
process. Following the decadence of placer and hydraulic mining, for which
Yuba County became famous, there came, in turn, the improved system of
dredge mining, which method at the present day has placed Yuba County at
the head of the gold-producing sections of the world. First operated in New
Zealand nearly half a century ago, the continuous chain-bucket dredge
attracted the notice of American miners ; and the first of the type built in
California was constructed on the Yuba River in 1897, by the Risdon Iron
Works Company of San Francisco. It was a mechanical success, but the
conditions were such that it could not be operated profitably. Several other
similar machines were afterwards constructed and operated for a time, but
all proved a failure from a financial standpoint until W. P. Hammon, after
whom the town of Hammonton was named, entered the field in 1902, after
several years' experience at Oroville, in Butte County. The great basin of
the Yuba River was at that time what miners call a "blind deposit," the entire
basin being covered to an average depth of twenty-two feet with tailings
from the hydraulic mines above. These tailings had to be moved, and
economically. The value and character of the original gravel deposit had to
be ascertained, as also the extent of the deposit that might be mined. The
ground was known to be very deep, from sixty to ninety feet below the water-
line, fifty per cent deeper than any other ground being dredged at that time.
It is said that Hammon expended over $60,000 in preliminary work ; and
before undertaking to construct the dredge, he had a most thorough knowl-
edge of the situation. Then followed the construction of dredging machines
of improved pattern and adequate for the work required. The first two gold-
boats operated completely solved the difficulties encountered and made the
enterprise a thorough success.
The company with which Hammon is connected, and of which he is the
moving spirit, began operations in the Yuba district in August, 1904. It
was incorporated in March, 1905, as the Yuba Consolidated Goldfields, with
a capital of $12,500,000, and is now actively engaged in dredge mining on the
river beds, on a large tract on the Yuba River, nine miles east of Marysville.
The recently constructed boats are 120 feet in length and 50 feet in width.
They are run by electricity received from the Colgate plant on the Yuba
River near Dobbins, and each machine requires about 375 horse-power. They
each handle from 2500 to 3500 cubic yards of material per day. The immense
dredgers now being added to the fleets at Hammonton and Marigold are
being built of steel at a cost, each, of half a million dollars. This will give
to the reader some indication of the amount of gold being taken from the bed
of the stream. In the beginning, sixteen years ago, these gold-boats were
constructed of wood at a cost of $100,000 each. Many of the wooden boats
long ago went into the discard along with their machinery. The hills about
Hammonton are covered with scrap from the abandoned wooden boats.
While thus conducting its dredge-mining operations, the company has
also engaged, in conjunction with the Federal government, in building train-
ing walls of rock several miles in length, for the purpose of confining the
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 91
Yuba River (which normally has a tendency to "fan out") in a denned chan-
nel, in order to hold in place the great deposit of tailings now there and
prevent its moving on down, to the damage of the farms in the valley below.
These walls, which are built in most substantial manner and maiiv times
stronger than originally contemplated by the government officers, and which
would have cost the United States at least half a million dollars if done by it,
were constructed free of charge by the dredging company, and have proven
of incalculable benefit as a measure of protection to property-owners in both
Yuba and Sutter Counties.
Many men and members of their families are given employment both on
the boats and in the repair shops maintained at Hammonton, where the
company has built a commodious hotel, homes for the workmen, and a school.
Marysville reaps much trade from the residents of Hammonton, all of whom
are required by the company to be thrifty and steady-going, in order to hold
secure their employment.
"While AY. P. Hammon gives the Oroville district, where he first achieved
success in dredge mining, all the credit due it, he pronounces the Yuba fields
the greatest in the world. The amount of ground suitable and profitable for
dredging in the Yuba district is so great that it will require the work of the
dredgers for at least another decade to exhaust it, and all the while it will
add much to the gold supply of the world.
As conducted on the Yuba, no damage is being done, or can be done,
to the valley. The land used for dredge mining is. as a rule, comparatively
worthless for agriculture, being in the bed of the river, and the former owners
have received for it from the mining company prices many times in excess
of its former assessed value. The success of this industry means much to
the county. It adds largely to the taxable wealth ; it employs a great number
of men ; it brings to the section many visitors of prominence and possessed
of capital to invest ; and it is doing more than any other industry to attract
attention from abroad to our varied resources, mineral and agricultural, and
to invite homeseekers and home-builders to locate here.
Recent reports made by the United States' government place Yuba
Count)- at the head of the gold-producing territories in the nation, and in the
world. This leading place as a mining center is due to the great quantity of
the precious metal being take from Yuba River by gold-dredging boats oper-
ated at Hammonton by the Yuba Consolidated Goldfields Company, and at
Marigold operated by the Marysville Dredging Company. On the opposite
bank of the Yuba River the Guggenheim interests also have large boats
working, bringing up from the depths of the river gold that was washed
down the stream in the days of the hydraulic process. From the hydraulick-
ers, who used large and powerful monitors to wash the mountain-sides into
their sluice-boxes, as much gold escaped as was "cleaned up," if not more.
This is the metal now accountable for Yuba County's enviable position in
the mining world. It is now estimated that the life of the dredger fields at
Hammonton and Marigold is ten years, although recent plans entered into
between the government and the dredger companies indicate that the period
of profitable operation may be still longer prolonged.
PROPOSED DAMS AT BULLARDS BAR AND SMARTSVILLE
At the time this volume was in the hands of the publishers, the Yuba
Development Company, a $24,000,000 corporation, had in course of construc-
tion an immense dam at Bullards Bar on the Yuba River, in this county, the
chief purpose of which is to permit the resumption of hydraulic mining in
Yuba. Sierra, and Nevada Counties, and incidentally to engage in power and
irrigation development. In addition, the Yuba Development Company has
92 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
amalgamated with a powerful group of interests and individuals controlling
thousands of acres of land adjoining both sides of the Yuba River, east of
Smartsville, for the purpose of developing hydroelectric power and irrigation
projects, involving an outlay of several millions of dollars. Organizations
and individuals back of the enterprise include the C. F. Ayer Estate, through
the Excelsior Water & Mining Company ; the Yuba Development Company ;
the Metals Exploration Company, with headquarters in New York City;
Harry Payne Whitney, Eastern capitalist; and Bulkley Wells, multimillion-
aire mine owner and promoter. The construction of the two great impound-
ing dams proposed — the one, already mentioned as being under way at Bill-
iards Bar, and the other at the Narrows on the main Yuba River channel at
Smartsville — is a work teeming with possibilities. It was expected that the
work on the Bullards Bar dam would be completed by the fall of 1923 ; and it
was planned to start the construction of the second dam at Smartsville at
about the time when this first barrier should be completed.
The Bullards Bar dam, if the plans carry, will be 175 feet in height, and
so constructed that it may be added to. The Smartsville dam will also be
175 feet in height, according to the engineers' plans. Together, these barriers
will cost in excess of $3,000,000, and will be capable of impounding millions
of cubic feet of tailings and debris which will be washed down stream through
the operation of the hydraulic mines ; and at the same time they will make it
possible for the operators to comply fully with the anti-debris law as it
pertains to the choking of the waterways in the valley.
The impounding dams will make possible the opening of hydraulic mines
at various points above the barriers, particularly in the Bloomfield district
of Nevada County, where W. B. Bourne and George W. Starr, mining
operators of Grass Valley, control extensive gravel beds, and also near
Smartsville, where the Ayer Estate owns outright large deposits of auriferous
gravel. Owners of gravel deposits not financially interested in the dams will
be given an opportunity to use the dam for impounding purposes by payment
of a rate to be agreed upon. At least this was the announcement made
recently by the projectors of the big scheme.
Water and Power Interests
Under the terms of the agreement entered into between the Yuba Devel-
opment Company and the Smartsville contingent, the Excelsior Water &
Power Company would have exclusive right to handle the water interests
of the project below the Yuba River Narrows. In addition to the debris to
be impounded, it is estimated that sufficient water will be conserved behind
the two dams to irrigate approximately 25,000 acres of agricultural lands
south of the Yuba River and extending from the foothills in the Smartsville
district almost to AVheatland. The land to be benefited is owned largely by
the Ayer Estate and the James K. O'Brien Estate.
The plan of the Excelsior Water and Power Company is, to develop the
main distributing system for the handling of the storage water and in this
manner to dispose of it to an irrigation district to be formed in the future,
after the project is under way. Much of the land to be placed under irriga-
tion is of comparativeh' low value at present except for grazing purposes,
but can be made to produce abundantly with water.
It is said the Pacific Gas & Electric Company already has agreed to take
the power generated at the Bullards Bar plant. The power plants that are
to form part of the new development project will be located near the sites of
the dams. It is thought that the Pacific Gas & Electric Company is also
enamored of the power to be developed at the Smartsville dam ; and it is
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 93
believed that this company is heavily interested with the Yuba Development
Company in the immense project.
Possibilities of Danger
During the month of February, 1923, following the announcement of the
plan of the Yuba Development Company and its associates to build the
barriers in Yuba River, Charles K. McClatchy, editor of the Sacramento Bee,
in his paper questioned the advisability of permitting the resumption of
hydraulic mining behind these dams. McClatchy warned the valley counties,
particularly Sutter, Yuba and Sacramento Counties, that they might be
courting the troubles which they endured at an earlier period, and which
they finally blocked in the courts of the State and nation, causing hydraulic
mining to be placed under ban because of the filling of the valley reaches of
the Yuba and Feather Rivers with detritus from the mines operated under
the hydraulic process. The Sawyer decision, estopping the operation of
mines by the hydraulic process, was recalled by McClatchy.
Letter of Major Grant
Under date of February 13, 1923, Major U. S. Grant, 3rd, of the corps of
engineers of the California Debris Commission, with headquarters in San
Francisco, sent the following letter to McClatchy, which is self-explanatory:
"To the Editor of The Bee.
"Sir: 1. Your letter of January 20, 1823, addressed to Col. Herbert
Deakyne, president of the California Debris Commission, has been referred to
me as secretary and executive officer of the commission. I am not advised of
the character of announcements as to a general resumption of hydraulic
mining on the Yuba River, except what has been stated from time to time in
The Bee, of which I am a regular and quite careful reader. I am, therefore,
somewhat at a loss as to just how to answer your inquiry.
"2. The Yuba Development Company is adding considerably to the
height of its present dam at Bullards Bar, bringing it up to an elevation of 175
feet under authority granted by the California Debris Commission in June,
1922. The plans for this new dam have been very carefully gone over by the
commission and are believed to be fully within the limits of safety. Certainly
the concrete arch dam which is being built in this case is the very safest type
for such work, and the kind of dam which we would like to see built in every
case. The construction of this dam is proceeding under the continual inspec-
tion of the California Debris Commission. It is expected that it will have a
total storage capacity behind it of about 40,000,000 cubic yards of debris.
"As the Yuba Development Company appears to be willing to sell some
of this storage space at a reasonable rate, it will be of considerable benefit
to those mining on a small scale and will give them positive debris storage at
a lower price than the)' can obtain by individual barriers of even a much less
safe type. Until the space behind the dam is entirely filled up, we will be
sure of the escape of no debris from the region above it, except such light
slickens as are inevitably carried over the top of any dam by high water.
"3. It is understood that the Yuba Development Company contemplates
the utilization of part of the reservoir behind the dam for the development of
hydro-electric power. This feature comes under the jurisdiction of the Fed-
eral Power Commission, which, 1 understand, has also scrutinized and
approved the design of the dam. The space will not only provide for the
storage of any retarded movement of mining debris, but will also catch natural
erosion and old tailings which would otherwise continue to work their way
down stream. This dam will then be of general benefit, as well as of direct
94 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
benefit to the rivers, by the retention of all debris above it, and by the storage
of much flood water for release during the low-water season.
"4. A dam in the Narrows near Smartsville was a part of the original
project of the California Debris Commission, but was never built, the con-
struction of barriers having begun downstream and never having been carried
up this far. The project now comprises only the Daguerre Point dam
(already built), the north and south training walls above and below the latter
(not yet completed), and certain rectification of the channel. This work has
proven so effective that the California Debris Commission is now making
every effort to complete the south training wall below Daguerre Point to
close Inskip Slough, Dunning Channel and the other old channels where large
quantities of debris are stored and might be set in motion by unexpected high
water. In view of present conditions, it does not appear to me likely that the
California Debris Commission would for many years consider the construc-
tion of any other dams upstream from Daguerre Point. [Daguerre Point is
about ten miles above Marysville, and an equal distance below the Narrows,
near Smartsville. — Editor.]
"Some years ago, the Harmon Engineering Company drew up a project
for fairly extensive mining in the Yuba River, including a diversion dam some-
where near Smartsville ; but, as far as known by this office, this plan was
definitely given up. While I have heard from time to time some talk of this
project or a similar one being taken up again by various mining interests, no
application has been made to the commission for a license to mine under
any such project. However, I think the commission would be inclined to act
favorably on any such proposition, if it contained, as an essential part, the
construction of a safe and permanent barrier providing for and assuring the
storage of debris behind it. Such a barrier would tend to stop the movement
of all debris above it for a number of years, and would relieve the deposits
held back by the Daguerre Point barrier from the gradual annual accretions
now reaching them.
"5. In the last paragraph of your letter, you do specifically inquire
as to whether the duties of the California Debris Commission extend to
the protection of agricultural lands and other interests besides navigation.
For your information in this regard, I inclose a copy of the Act of Congress
approved March 1, 1893, on which the jurisdiction of the commission is
based. It is evident from the terms of the law itself that Congress claimed
jurisdiction to control hydraulic mining solely on the ground of the resulting
injury and damage to navigable waters; but any measures which stop the
movement of debris and tend to regulate the flow of water in time of freshets
necessarily are of general benefit, and incidentally afford some protection to
otherwise exposed agricultural lands.
"This letter has been somewhat delayed in order to give it the serious
consideration which the subject-matter deserves.
"For the California Debris Commission,
"Yours truly,
"U. S. Grant. 3rd,
"Major, Corps of Engineers,
"Member and Secretary.
"San Francisco, February 13, 1923."
Reply of the Editor of The Bee
To Major Grant's letter editor McClatchy made reply, reviewing the
hydraulic mining situation and pointing out that the State and Federal
courts retain jurisdiction and authority to issue injunctions against injurious
hydraulic mining. McClatchy's reply of March 1, 1923, was as follows:
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 95
"The act of 'Congress of 1893 provides for the appointment of a Cali-
fornia Debris Commission, composed of Federal engineers, to devise plans
for restoration and protection of navigation and to permit hydraulic mining
to be carried on, 'provided the same can be accomplished without injury
to navigability' of the rivers or to 'lands adjacent thereto.' It authorizes
issuance of permits under such safeguards as will 'protect the public inter-
ests and prevent such injury,' and further provides that 'no more debris shall
be washed than can be impounded within the restraining works erected.'
Hydraulic mining on the watersheds of the Sacramento and San Joaquin
Rivers, without such permit, is by the same act prohibited and declared
unlawful, and any injury to navigation, directly or indirectly, from such
mining is made a misdemeanor punishable by fine or imprisonment, or
by both. There are various other provisions of the act which need not
be mentioned here.
The Federal act, however, although it has been adjudged constitutional,
gives the commission no judicial powers, and in no way interferes with the
authority of the courts, State or Federal, to protect either public or private
■ property from injury caused by hydraulic mining, even when done under a
permit from the commission. This was decided by the supreme court of
California in the case of the County of Sutter vs. Nichols, owner of the Polar
Star hydraulic mine, who had built a debris dam under the direction of the
debris commission, and was operating with its permission and in accord
with its requirements. The injunction issued by Judge Davis of the superior
court of Sutter County was sustained on appeal, without dissent, five justices
of the supreme court uniting in the decision. The lower court had found the
dam insufficient to prevent debris from being carried down and causing in-
jury to public property, and that the dam was not of a permanent character.
The supreme court held the defendant could not be relieved from liability
for damage because of the commission's permit ; that the Federal act was
not intended to license either the filling of the river channel with debris or
the doing of injury to private property by discharging debris into the rivers.
It was held also that it was not the intent of the Federal statute to exonerate
the miner from liability for injuries, or in any respect to limit or restrict the
powers of the State courts to protect private property from threatened in-
jury and to redress inflicted injury thereto from the operation of hydraulic
mines, though carried on under a permit and in strict compliance with the
plans and directions of the debris commission, and that the Federal act
does not have that effect.
"No doubt seems to be entertained in the Sacramento Valley that the
debris commission has done much useful work in construction of barriers
and training walls in and along the Yuba River, to restrain debris turned
into the stream or its tributaries by hydraulic mining prior to the creation
of that body. And in granting permits for construction of debris barriers
across the Yuba at Bullards Bar it is presumed to have acted within the
spirit of that statute and in accord with its requirements. But the people
of the Sacramento Valley always have opposed use of the river channels
for storage of debris from hydraulic mining in order that this private and
transient industry may be continued, however useful such barriers may be
to prevent or lessen further injury because of past operations. It is evident,
however, from the decision of the State supreme court in the Polar Star
case, outlined in the foregoing, that any county, community, district or land-
owner may at any time obtain relief or protection in the courts from either
actual or threatened injury, despite permits issued by the debris commission
in accord with its authority and the instructions of Congress.
96 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
"The statement recently published by The Bee, that the debris dam at
Bullards Bar on the Yuba is being raised to a height of 175 feet by a
private corporation, with approval of the commission, to create a storage
reservoir with a capacity for 40,000,000 cubic yards of debris, is now officially
confirmed. And Major Grant says : 'Until the space behind the dam is
entirely filled up, we will be sure of the escape of no debris from the region
above it, except such light slickens as are inevitably carried over the top of
any dam by high water.' It was largely such light material, however, that
caused ruin .and devastation to the bottom lands of the Yuba in the earlier
history of hydraulic mining. The yellowish pipe-clay and fine sands were
washed down by hydraulic mines from the mountain region into the valley
of the river by millions of cubic yards, converting fertile farms, orchards
and vineyards into a desert waste, as described in the decision of United
States Circuit Judge Sawyer in the famous suit of Woodruff vs. the North
Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company. The channel of the stream below the
foothills, down almost to its junction with the Feather, at Marysville and
Yuba City, was completely destroyed by the slickens, sands and fine gravel,
and the deposits of debris raised the banks and bottom lands several feet
above the level of the neighboring lands.
"As to the 'slickens' proper — the yellowish pipe-clay commonly washed
down in enormous quantities from the precipitous banks of hydraulic mines —
it has been the contention of the miners in numerous anti-debris suits that
its ultimate destination was nowhere short of the ocean, because of its
extreme lightness and portability. And very much expert and official testi-
mony has been given in the courts to show that many millions of cubic yards
of it have reached at least Suisun, San Pablo and San Francisco Bays,
if not the Pacific Ocean.
"The rising generations of Californians, and the newer residents of the
State, have but little realization of the magnitude of past hydraulic mining
and its present capacities for injury. According to the official reports of
former State Engineer Hall, the hydraulic miners upon the streams draining
into the Sacramento Basin were using in 1879 a yearly supply of 15,000,000
miner's twenty-four-hour inches of water, and annually were washing into the
canyons over 53,000,000 cubic yards of material. The annual water supply
here technically expressed in miner's inches is equivalent to about 60,000,-
000,000 gallons. The Yuba River alone received each year, he estimated,
22,326,500 cubic yards of debris from hydraulic mines. These figures (based
on incomplete data) are probably much below the mark, but suffice for the
purposes of illustration. A naked statement in figures of the extent of
hydraulic operations conveys little significance. But if the reader will bear
in mind the fact that a million cubic yards of debris will cover a square mile
to the depth of a foot, he can realize the magnitude of the annual flow of
over 22,000,000 cubic yards, into the Yuba. It would fill the Erie Canal to
the brim in eighteen months. And this flow, it should be understood, repre-
sents solid material, water not included.
"But one must visit the hydraulic mining regions and see the monitors
in operation, fully to realize the destructive nature of the industry. The
area of excavations is measured in acres and square miles. Mountains liter-
ally have been washed into this valley. The work of the monitors has made
vast ampitheaters, shut in by perpendicular precipices, hundreds of feet high,
where originally were mountains covered with forest growth. Up to 1878
the Excelsior Company at Smartsville, Yuba County, alone had washed
8,000,000 cubic yards (14,000,000 tons) of material into the Yuba; and
ten times that quantity remained to be removed from its claims. In forty
days, using 3000 inches of water and blasting extensively, the Miocene
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 97
Mine poured into the Feather River above Oroville no less than 300,000
cubic yards of debris.
"An incomplete statement of the damage caused by hydraulic mining
debris is contained in a report made by State Engineer Hall in 1880. Upon
the Yuba, Feather and Bear Rivers, Auburn Ravine, and Dry Creek, he found
43,546 acres of valuable land had been covered by debris, and the deprecia-
tion and loss thus occasioned to the owners amounted to $2,597,635. But
this estimate did not include damages along the Sacramento and American
Rivers, nor the vast area of lands protected by levees but greatly reduced
in value through the increased danger of overflow and liability to ruin by
debris. One of Hall's reports shows that prior to 1885 the channel of the
Yuba at Smartsville was filled by the hydraulic mining debris to a depth of
150 feet. In 1882 Colonel Mendell, of the United States corps of engineers,
reported to the AYar Department that the level of the beds of the Yuba and
Bear Rivers had risen 'to an elevation of several feet above the banks," the
streams being held in place by levees. 'These instances,' he said, 'may be
taken to illustrate the ultimate condition of the Sacramento and Feather
Rivers under a continuance of the influence to which they are subjected. The
abandonment of existing channels is a consequence to be apprehended.'
"The danger to navigation, however, was not confined to the rivers of
the valley. It affected the bays as well. AVitness these extracts from the
report, made July 1, 1882:
" 'The surveys [San Pablo Bay] of 1863 and 1878 are distinguished by
a deposit of 76,025,000 cubic yards made in the interval. The depth of the
deposit averaged over the area of comparison, 24J4 miles, would be 3.1
feet. . . . The mean reduction in width of channel ... is 2820 feet, which
is 22 per cent of the mean width in 1855. A comparison of maps of three
and one-half miles on the Sacramento, near its mouth, and one mile at
the mouth of the San Joaquin, shows a deposit of 2,000,000 cubic yards
in the Sacramento, and 500,000 in the San Joaquin, between 1867 and
1878. ... A comparison of charts of Carquinez Straits between different
dates indicates the formation of large deposits in recent years.'
"According to an official report of the State engineer, made in 1879,
16,000,000 cubic yards of material were carried annually by the waters of the
Sacramento River, in suspension, past the capital city. This does not include,
he is careful to say, the sands rolled along the bottom by the force of the
current — a very considerable quantity. And it is only fair to add that
he attributes about 5,000,000 cubic yards of the aggregate to the results
of natural wash.
"The extent of the auriferous deposits of 'gravel' in the Sierras is not
definitely known, but is practically unlimited. It is estimated that 100,000,-
000 cubic yards of material already have been washed into the Yuba alone,
and that "there remain at least 700.000,000 cubic yards more, upon the
drainage basin of that stream, workable by present hydraulic methods.
"State Engineer Hall reported that 70 per cent of the discharge of debris
into the Yuba could be stopped behind dams, leaving 7,000,000 cubic yards
a year — a very formidable quantity — to descend that one tributary into the
Sacramento Valley.
"By far the larger portion of the cost of levees constructed in the Sacra-
mento Valley is chargeable properly to hydraulic mining. There is abun-
dant evidence, to begin with, that Marysville and Yuba City, and the Coun-
ties of Yuba and Sutter, needed no levees before hydraulic mining debris
had filled up the Yuba and Feather Rivers. Portions only of the business
streets of Marysville were wet by the great floods of 1*52-1853 and the still
greater floods of 1861-1862, and there was still no thought of building levees.
98 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
The city had no encircling- levee until 1868. But twenty years later her
levee account footed up $500,000, nearly one third of the total assessed
valuation of the city. Vastly different were conditions in early days, when
the rivers were clear and deep, and a deep-draught vessel, which made the
voyage around the Horn, ascended the Feather River and discharged her
cargo at or near Marysville or Yuba City."
Later Details of the Project
Subsequently to this correspondence, there were filed with the Division
of Water Rights, State Department of Public Works, in Sacramento, more
detailed plans of the Yuba Development Company for the vast project.
According to these plans, the company is to develop 262,130 horse-power
of electricity when all its units have been constructed, which, it was thought,
will require several years. There will be nine storage reservoirs and six
hydroelectric power plants. The power will be developed by taking advan-
tage of the 6000 feet of fall in the Yuba between Haypress Valley on the
south fork of the North Yuba, where the elevation is 6870 feet, and the dam
at the Narrows, near Smartsville, where the elevation is 275 feet. The reser-
voirs will have a storage capacity of 500,000 acre-feet. To distribute and use
these waters will require, it was estimated, the construction of some twelve
miles of diversion tunnels.
The hydroelectric power plants are described as follows :
"Sierra City Power House No. 1, located at an elevation of 4400 feet,
to be fed from Haypress Valley, Jackson Meadows and Milton reservoirs.
The power will have a developed horse-power of 27,640.
"Downieville Power House No. 2, at an elevation, of 3000 feet, to
be fed from Sierra City reservoir. This power house "will develop 39,140
horse-power.
"Toll-bridge Ramshorn Power House No. 3, at an elevation of 2500 feet,
to be fed from Toll-bridge and Shady Flat reservoirs. The development here
will amount to 15,600 horse-power.
"Garden Valley Power House No. 4, at an elevation of 1900 feet, to be
fed from Indian Valley reservoir. The hdyroelectric development will be
46,350 horse-power.
"Colgate Power House No. 5 (to be constructed by the Pacific Gas and
Electric Company for its own use), at an elevation of 600 feet. The develop-
ment here will amount to 110,500 horse-power. This power house will be in
addition to the present Colgate power house of the Pacific Gas and Electric
Company, which is located at an elevation of about 1300 feet. Both Colgate
power houses will be supplied from Bullards Bar reservoir.
"Smartsville Power House No. 6, to be at an elevation of 275 feet,
will be supplied from the Narrows reservoir. Its capacity will be 22,900
horse-power."
The horse-power development of the power plants increases as the river
descends, largely due to the increasing volume of water. Sierra City power
house will have only 301 second-feet of water, while the big Colgate power
house will have 1100 second-feet and Smartsville will have 1300 second-feet.
The working out of the units is such that practically no fall of the river
will be allowed to go to waste. Soon after the water is discharged from the
race of one power house it will be again stored and diverted for another
power house. The water for Garden Valley power house will be taken from
Indian Valley reservoir through a 29,548-foot tunnel to the head of the pen-
stock to the power house. The water for the big Colgate power house will be
taken from Bullards Bar reservoir through a tunnel 31,800 feet long to the
penstock of this power house.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY gg
The proposed development of the Yuba River project is declared to he
one of the most complete ever contemplated in the country. It provides not
only for a series of storage and regulatory dams but also for utilization of
practically all fall of the river.
About the middle of the year 1923, the Yuba Development Company,
through legal process, changed the name and title of the concern to tlie
Yuba River Power Company. On December 23, 1923, the company an-
nounced the completion of the immense dam at Bullards Bar. A month later
all the old landmarks at Bullards Bar went up in smoke, as the result of a
bonfire used as the most economical means of ridding the site of the old hotel,
blacksmith shop, store and other buildings so dear to the heart of the old
host, George Mix, and sacred in the memory of the pioneer teamsters and
miners.
CHAPTER IX
FLOODS AND FLOOD CONTROL
NOTABLE FLOODS
The condition of the valley in the matter of floods, prior to its occupa-
tion by the white race, is impossible to ascertain with any degree of certainty.
The Indians, however, have a tradition of a great flood sometime in the
early part of the century, probably in 1805, which inundated the whole
valley and in which a great many lives were lost and many native villages
destroyed. This flood marked an era in their calendar from which they
dated events. Again, we hear of a flood in the winter of 1825-1826, through
Indian Peter. He used to say that the trapping party he was with was com-
pelled to camp in the Buttes on account of high water, and that these hills
were full of grizzlies, elk, antelope, and smaller game that had taken refuge
there. The early settlers speak of floods in the winter of 1846-1847, which
did but little damage simply because there was not much to be injured. The
season of 1849-1850 was also a wet one, and the streets of Marysville were
for a time muddy and almost impassable. The miners along the river were
compelled to work in the creeks and ravines in the hills until the waters
subsided. There was still but little property to be injured, except mining
dams, etc., and the loss was small in consequence.
The Floods of 1852-1853
In the winter of 1852-1853, the city of Marysville was visited with four
floods and the surrounding country was more or less under water the whole
season. The rains commenced earh' in November, 1852, and towards the
latter part of the month the water was as high as it had reached the season
before. Again, a week or two later, water rose six and a half inches higher
than at first. The water then subsided ; but the last week in December was
one of continual rain, and on the 31st water began to come into the city.
The rivers were both very high; and the water in Yuba River was hacked
up by that in the Feather, and thus found its way into the streets. The
next day the water was twenty and one-half inches higher than during the
last flood, and was from six to'ten inches deep on the floors of the buildings
about the Plaza. There had been a grand ball projected at the Merchants'
100 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
Hotel for New-year's eve, but when the hour arrived the hotel was sur-
rounded by water. Several young men, loath to lose their anticipated pleas-
ure, proceeded to the hotel in boats, and with a number of ladies residing- there
danced until morning. All the low and bottom lands were completely sub-
merged by this flood, and as it was the first experience of the kind the new
ranchers had undergone up to this time, they lost very heavily in stock,
crops, etc. Communication of the city with the outside world, and between
the farmers, had to be maintained by boats. People were compelled to come
to the city in boats in order to obtain supplies, and trading to the mines was
effectually blockaded for some time. The continuous rains and almost im-
passable muddy roads had been such a drawback upon freighting that a
great stringency of supplies was caused in the mines. At the earliest possible
moment, a number of energetic and enterprising men started out trains with
supplies, hoping to reach the destitute regions before the markets were sup-
plied, and thus reap a bountiful harvest of gold to reward them for their
labor. Those who reached the mines first were amply rewarded for their
exertions, and were able to secure any price their conscience would permit
them to ask, such as a dollar per pound for flour, and twenty-five cents per
pound for hay.
The fourth and last flood of the season commenced to assert itself on
Saturday. March 25, 1853, and on Tuesday the water reached a point eight
inches higher than in January. Both the residents in the city and the farm-
ers had gained valuable and costly experience by the previous freshets ; and
though the water was higher, and a week passed from the time it commenced
to rise until it finally subsided, yet there was not nearly so much damage
done as would have been the case had it been the first flood. The farmers
protected their property and removed stock, etc., to higher localities ; and
the merchants, at the first warning, moved their goods up on the shelves, or
into the second stories, so that when the water came, there was less for it
to destroy. About $100,000 worth of damage was done, however, in various
ways. The water covered First Street, portions of A, B, C, and D Streets,
Maiden Lane and the Plaza. Boats of various sizes, many of nondescript
character,, bearing external evidences of hasty and primitive construction,
flitted along the watery streets. The imprisoned citizens leaned out from
the second-story windows and merrily hailed the passing boatmen. A ferry
line was established between the Merchants' Hotel and dry land, over which
the people who boarded there passed to reach their places of employment.
The country on all sides of Marysville was under water. Yuba City was
completely flooded ; the only dry spot in town was the Indian rancheria on
the bank of the river. Sutter's Garden at Hock Farm was overflowed, and
water stood on the lower floor of his house. The steamer Governor Dana,
coming up the stream on Tuesday, could proceed no farther than Hock
Farm on account of the violence of the current, and was compelled to return
to Sacramento. Considerable damage was done to the crops that had been
put in by the farmers, but beyond this the loss was small. B}- Saturday the
waters had subsided sufficiently to permit the pack trains to leave the city.
Other Early Floods
Although every few years the water rose pretty high and covered the
lowlands, there were no further disastrous floods until December, 1861.
Long and incessant rains ushered in the rainy season, and on Saturday,
December 7, the water commenced to rise rapidly in the river. All day
Sunday the rain poured down, and that night the city was nearly under
water. Early Monday morning several buildings, undermined by the water,
fell crumbling to the ground, creating great consternation. The floors of
the Merchants' Hotel fell through to the basement, carrying with them the
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 101
sleeping occupants, several of whom were severely injured by the fall, though
no one was killed. Many people were rescued from this and from other peril-
ous situations b}' some of the heroic firemen, who worked among the crumb-
ling ruins at the extreme peril of their own lives. A great many frame
houses floated from their positions, and some were carried down the stream.
In one of these there was a woman, whose children had been rescued by a
boat. When the boat returned for the mother, the house had been carried
down the river. Only two cases of death are recorded, however, both by
drowning. The steamer Defiance made its way through the streets, giving
assistance to those who were rescuing the unfortunate.
A thick deposit of sand was left on the bottom lands by this flood, vary-
ing in depth from one to six feet, and doing an immense amount of damage.
This was the first appearance in any quantity of the disastrous "alluvial soil"
that later worked ruin and devastation to much of the valley and forced
litigation in subsequent years between the hydraulic-mining section and the
valley counties. Farm produce such as pumpkins, squash, potatoes, hay,
and corn, was destroyed in great quantities, as was also stock of all kinds.
It was reported that over 100 Chinamen were drowned at Long Bar, Ous-
ley's Bar and Sand Flat.
Again, a month later, on January 11, 1862, the waters rose, reaching six
inches higher than before ; but now the warning of the previous flood had
caused the merchants and farmers to move everything perishable beyond
the reach of danger. The loss of stock this winter and the next summer
was very great, and in Sutter County it was estimated at three-fourths the
entire number. The loss was great in Marysville also, where but few cattle
escaped except those able to reach the Buttes ; and the cold weather nipped
the grass, causing large numbers of the cattle to die of starvation.
The next visitation occurred on December 19, 1866. Quite a severe storm
raged for several days, and all the low land and some of the streets of Marys-
ville were flooded. A great deal of the levee, which was small and of com-
paratively recent construction, was washed away ' in various places.
The Flood of 1875
It was, however, reserved for the year 1875 to chronicle the greatest
and most destructive flood that the annals of the city of Marysville bear.
The city had surrounded itself with a vast levee seven miles long, to con-
struct which a vast sum of money had been expended. To this fact is due
the unusual amount of damage experienced in that year ; for relying upon
their huge and expensive guardian, the people did not take those precaution-
ary measures formerly adopted, and when the flood came, it swept every-
thing before it. Even goods that were placed upon platforms supposed to
be above the reach of the water, suffered, for the water respected nothing
in the shape of traditional "high-water mark," but moved up higher, leaving
a mark that tradition was not again called upon for some time to verify.
For a week, heavy and incessant rain and snow storms prevailed, accom-
panied in some instances by thunder and lightning, an unusual phenomenon
in the valley. Tuesday morning, January 19, the waters rose so as to threaten
a flood, and an alarm was sounded on 'the fire bell. The citizens all turned
out to contest the advance of the invader. The Browns Valley grade was
the first point threatened, but by diligent labor two feet of dirt were thrown
up in time to make it secure. The next weak spot to be developed was the
levee near the cemetery, where the water, already three feet deep, began to
pour over the banks for a long distance. Heroic efforts were made i
this with sand-bags; but these were of no avail, and at dark the work was
abandoned. Then there was a wild rush of people to get to places ot safety.
102 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
Large houses, churches, the courthouse, and other buildings were thronged
with people whose residences were too insecure to be trusted. At eight
o'clock in the evening, a break was made near the hospital, and a torrent
of water came sweeping down the Slough, and spread itself over the first
ward. Many women and children who had delayed their departure had to be
carried away in boats, or on the backs of the men who came to save them.
Barns, sheds, and a few frame dwellings began floating about in an erratic
manner, some of them containing people. Boats were few, and these had
plenty to do in transporting people and goods to places of safety. Rafts
were called into requisition. The water steadily advanced until Wednesday
noon, when it stood from three to five feet deep in the streets, and in some
places in the first ward ten feet deep. In most of the houses the water
was from two to five feet in depth, in some much deeper. About twenty
houses alone, in the whole city, escaped this visitation, thanks to high base-
ments. A strong current ran down the F Street slough, now filled in; and
the site of homes and schools, to the Yuba River, together with the whole
valley, including the city, was one vast sheet of water on a level with the
rivers. When Wednesday came, it was a serious question where a break-
fast was coming from. The waters, in their angry roar, had said to the
people: "Stand not on the order of your going, but go at once"; and go
they did, making no provision for the morrow. But food was provided in
various ways ; so that, although some may have feasted a little less sumptu-
ously than usual, no one suffered long from hunger. Those who had been
so hastily driven from their homes had nothing to wear, however, but the
wet clothing in which they had escaped, and nothing on which to sleep or
with which to protect themselves from the cold.
Thursday night, however, saw relief. The steamer Flora, from Sacra-
mento, brought Christopher Green, the mayor of that city, and a relief com-
mittee with a load of provisions, clothing, etc. The citizens now organized
a relief committee for the purpose of a judicious disposition of the supplies
of money, clothing, and other things that now began to pour in from neigh-
boring cities, who deeply sympathized with their stricken sister city. Sub-
committees were named to canvas the city and give orders upon the relief
fund for needed supplies. In this manner all were rapidly and amply pro-
vided for. The amount of contributions, so generously made, was about
$30,000 in money, 400 mattresses, and 1000 blankets, besides clothing, provi-
sions, and various other supplies.
Only one life was lost in the city, that of the little son of Mrs. John
Laughley, six years of age. The family had been taken from their home on
a raft, and the boy was accidentally knocked into the water and drowned.
His body was recovered in the morning.
The damage done to property in Marysville was enormous. Among the
buildings that suffered largely were the Episcopal Church, M. E. Church,
courthouse, city hall, woolen mills, Marysville Mills, Buckeye Mills, brew-
ery, Marysville Foundry, Swain & Hudson's factory, soap factory, Empire
Foundry, gas works, two lumber yards, a rag-carpet factory, broom factory,
and the stores and residences generally. It was a long time before the
deposit of sand was removed from its lodging places on the floors and in all
the nooks and corners. The railroads were badly damaged, and in the coun-
try there was great destruction of stock and other farm property. The
farmers of the valley, and the citizens of Marysville especially, will long
remember the great flood of 1875, which marks an era from which they are
still accustomed to date events.
The spring of 1879 had also its full share of high water, a great deal
of damage being done to the ranches on the lowlands ; and great expense
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 103
and trouble were incurred in keeping the many levees in condition to resist
the encroachments of the water. The city happily escaped anything more
serious than wet streets and flooded cellars.
On account of the scouring of the river channels, and the part the gov-
ernment. State and Federal, is taking in opening up the mouths of the
Feather and Sacramento Rivers, the thought of the people at the present time
is that disaster by flood is no longer a menace to be feared.
FLOOD CONTROL
The Levees
The several floods that occurred in the winters of 1861 and 1862 thor-
oughly convinced the citizens of Marysville that they would in the future
be compelled to rely upon levees to protect the city from inundation, and
preserve their property from destruction. A subscription was accordingly
raised among the citizens for that purpose. This amounted to $4000, to
which the City Council added $1000. With this sum a levee from three to
eight feet high was constructed, extending from the foot of D Street along
the river to F Street, which was at that time supposed sufficient for the
city's protection. The high water of the season of 1866-1867, however, dem-
onstrated the fact, that this brief extent of embankment was entirely inade-
quate to effect the desired end. An act was therefore passed by the legis-
lature early in 1868, authorizing the city to procure money for the construc-
tion of a complete line of levee surrounding it on all sides.
The line was at once surveyed, contracts were let, and the whole was
completed prior to the 1st of December. The line of this embankment
commenced at the foot of E Street, and followed the present line to the cor-
ner of K and Ninth Streets. From this point it ran west to M Street, north
to Eleventh Street, west to N Street on the bank of Feather River, north to
Sixteenth Street, northeast to the northeast corner of the Catholic Cemetery,
including this, north to the southwest corner of the City Cemetery,
east to Covillaud Street, south to the Browns Valley grade, down this grade
to Yuba Street, down Yuba Street to Fourth Street, on Fourth Street to
Yuba Alley, now Walnut Street, down that alley to First Street, on First
Street to B Street, south to Front Street, and along the river bank to the
place of beginning. The total length was about the same as the present
line, nearly seven miles, and the cost was $18,279.97.
The following year it was found necessary to raise and improve the
levee, and also to extend it so as to include the City Cemetery, which had
been left out in the wet by the work ot the previous year. For this purpose
$6000 was appropriated by the city council, and the work commenced. The
new line was 800 feet longer than the old one, and the change of line made
the construction of one mile of new levee necessary. The old line was
raised from two and one-half to three feet, as far as the southwest corner
of the City Cemetery. From this point the new levee ran to the northwest
corner of the cemetery, on the cemetery line to the city limits at the north
end of A Street, east to Covillaud Street, and south to the old levee. This
work cost $8833.06, being an excess over the appropriation, for which the
council provided.
In 1870 the levee was extended from the north end of Covillaud Street
due east to the Browns Valley grade, the new line being over 4000 feet long
and costing $1947.74. In addition to this, the Browns Valley grade was
repaired at an expense of $1353.25.
Surrounded thus by an embankment raised above high-water mark,
the citizens rested in tranquil security. High-water mark, however, is an
indefinite line, and not always to be relied upon, as was discovered by the
104 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
people on January 19, 1875, when the water came pouring over the levee
north of the city, and brought upon them the most disastrous flood known
in their history. It was then resolved to construct the levee anew. In 1876
an act was passed by the. legislature authorizing the city to borrow money
for this purpose, and bids for contracts were called for. There were several
high bids entered, one of them at $115,000 not including the cost of the right
of way. The contract was finally let for $68,000 for the work ; and the
other expenses amounted to $30,000, making a total expense of $98,000.
The old levee, so far as used, was raised three feet above high-water mark,
the Browns Valley grade was raised three feet, and the following new line
was constructed : Commencing at the corner of K and Ninth Streets, it
abandoned the old bank and ran up K Street to Sixteenth Street, east to E
Street, north to Eighteenth Street, and northeast to the city limits at the
north end of Yuba Street, where it connected with the old levee. The
embankment and drain across the Slough, between the city and the ceme-
teries, cost $21,000 and was regarded as a fine and expensive piece of work.
Levee District and Levee Commissioners
The legislature in 1876 passed an act creating a levee district, and placed
it under control of three commissioners, who were elected in March of the
same year. Prior to this, the work had been done under the supervision
of a committee from the city council. This act gave to the levee commission
powers more extensive and arbitrary than anyone else in the State possessed.
In pursuance of the act creating the levee commission of three, those
first elected as levee commissioners were : J. F. Flathman, John H. Bow-
man and William Landis. At the first meeting, held April 3, 1876, for the
purpose of organizing this commission, Landis refused to qualify. In his
stead Sanford Blodgett was chosen. The first move of moment was, to
recommend to the city council the raising of $5000 for levee purposes. In
August the board of supervisors were asked for $5000 more to aid in con-
structing the portion of the levee now known as the Browns Valley grade,
on the east side of the city. This embankment was tied up to the citizens'
levee. Samuel Garber, who later became police judge, was chosen foreman
for conducting the work.
In the latter part of August, 1877, John H. Bowman resigned from the
commission, and the remaining members chose Justus Greely to fill the
vacancy. In December of 1878 Sanford Blodgett resigned the position, and
Charles E. Sexey was chosen in his place. Charles Cadwalder, an engineer
of Red Bluff, laid the lines for the Browns Valley grade, and recommended
this route over one known as the "Teegarden route." Parks & Binney
secured the contract.
Between 1880 and 1884, C. E. Sexey, D. E. Knight, and I. Sheppard
served as levee commissioners. From 1884 the following filled the posi-
tion : 1884 to 1888. W. T. Ellis, D. E. Knight, and A. C. Bingham ; 1888
to 1892, John C. White, D. E. Knight, and W. T. Ellis. The next change
came in 1900, when W. T. Ellis, Jr., was chosen to act with his father and
John C. White. In 1912, W. T. Ellis, Jr., and his co-workers retired, giving
way to John W. Steward, Samuel Ewell, and Chester L. Bowen. On April
21, 1913, W. T. Ellis, Sr., whose faith in his adopted city had never swerved,
passed to his reward. In his memory the levee commissioners set apart a
page of their minute book, which has been appropriately inscribed. John
W. Steward, who was chosen president of the commission in 1912, died on
October 25, 1917. To his memory a page in the minute book was also
inscribed. C. F. Aaron succeeded Steward, filling the unexpired term.
\\ alter Bryant was made a member of the commission at the election of
1916, and at present is serving with W. T. Ellis, Jr., and Samuel Ewell.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 105
In 1910, the Western Pacific Railroad Company, on its entry into this
territory, took full}' one-half of the levee system off the city's hands, secur-
ing the embankment as a right of way, and extending the work from the
cemeteries on the north side of the city across to K Street and to the foot of
B Street. The saving to the city is enormous ; and besides, the tracks on
top of the levee make for safety in a case of emergency, which now seems
to be a thing of the past. The company bound itself to exercise due dili-
gence in keeping that part of the levee system in as good condition and repair
as may be required from time to time by the commission, for the wel-
fare and protection of the city. It agreed to keep the embankment at all
times at a height at least three feet above the point of maximum high water.
If the present point of maximum high water is ever exceeded, the railroad
company shall be allowed one year thereafter to raise the levee or embank-
ment. The franchise given the railroad will expire on March 3, 1953.
The city clerk is ex-officio clerk of the Board of Levee Commissioners.
It is his duty to keep a full and complete record of all proceedings of the
board. Under the original city charter no person could act as a levee com-
missioner until he took the constitutional oath of office and provided a bond
in the sum of $10,000, with at least two sureties, conditioned for the faithful
performance of his duties. No commissioner is to receive pa}- for his
services as a member of the board.
Reclamation Districts
Reclamation work in Yuba County, coupled with irrigation, has meant
much in adding to its wealth. The most important of the several reclama-
tion districts is District No. 10, north of Marysville. Here, where grain
was for years the chief product raised for the market on vast tracts, there
now abound vineyard after vineyard and orchard after orchard, and new
homes are springing up as shelter for the new settlers. On the eastern side
of the district, rice has been grown very successfully, encouraged by water
from the Cordna Irrigation District.
Reclamation District No. 784 has as brilliant a record. Here rice is
grown abundantly, and fruit is rapidly coming into its own.
106 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
CHAPTER X
CRIMES AND CRIMINALS
Near Lynchings
If the walls of the Marysville City Jail and of the Yuba County Court-
house could speak, they could rehearse many sensational events of a criminal
nature. Crime started early to disturb the peace of the new settlement.
One of the first crimes, a murder, is told of in a directory of Marysville
compiled in 1856 by George Sturtevant and O. Amy. During the summer
of 1850, one Greenwood, a quarter-breed, killed one Holden, a gambler.
Much excitement prevailed, and Sheriff Twitchell with difficulty prevented
the mob from taking Greenwood from his custody.
A few weeks later, one Keiger committed a cold-blooded murder in
the street, in the daytime. The populace was again aroused. Passion
prompted summary vengeance ; but reason interposed, and the result was
that a large volunteer guard watched the place used for a jail, then an adobe
house at the foot of D Street, until Keiger could be examined before a
magistrate, when he was committed and sent to a neighboring county jail
to await his trial before a duly constituted court.
NOTED ROAD BANDITS
It is not generally known that the late N. D. Rideout, head of the Ride-
out string of banks in Northern California, figured as a victim of highway
robbers in the early fifties, at a time when he was seeking his fortune in
the mountain district of Yuba County. On a Tuesday afternoon, about
4:30 o'clock, in October, 1852, as the Camptonville stage was proceeding to
Marysville, it was stopped when near Dry Creek by- six mounted highway-
men. They were after the treasure it carried, which amounted to $100,000.
Near the point of attack the road forked, and Rideout, gold-dust dealer and
banker of Camptonville, was on one road and the stage on the other. Ride-
out was stopped by the robbers, who all presented their arms and com-
manded him to dismount. He hesitated, when one of them threatened to
shoot him. On the threat being made he dismounted, and went toward the
stage on the other road across the ravine. The robbers called him back
and demanded his money. Being satisfied that he had none, his treasure
being on the stage, they took his horse and allowed him to cross over to
the stage. The robbers then commanded the driver of the stage, John Gear,
to stop, and threatened to kill the first man who should oppose them in
their designs. Messenger Dodson, messenger for Eangton's Express, imme-
diately drew on the robbers and commenced firing. His first shot took
effect on the spokesman of the robbers and unhorsed him. Rideout had
by this time got to the stage. An indiscriminate fight now commenced be-
tween the robbers and passengers. As many as forty shots were fired on
both sides. The robbers, finding themselves so stoutly opposed, retreated,
leaving the passengers victors of the field of battle. The driver, John Gear,
was shot through the right arm, above the elbow. Mrs. Tighlman, wife
of a Marysville barber, was shot in the head, the ball entering over the
right eye and penetrating the brain. Two other passengers were wounded.
When the stage was stopped and the firing had commenced, one white man
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 107
and four Chinamen left and ran back on the road which had been passed
over. The newspaper reports of the occurrence said : "These persons have
not been seen since."
Tom Bell
Tom Bell and his gang of robbers were suspected of the holdup. Bell,
a noted highwayman of that day, was killed near Auburn in Placer County
in 1856. In stature nearly six feet, he was well proportioned, combining in
his frame strength with action. He was of a sanguine temperament, quick
in his motions, being never at rest. He had sandy hair and a full crop of it,
and a light goatee to match his hair in color. His nose, which was origin-
ally well formed and large, was mashed in the bridge, almost level with his
face. This defect rendered his countenance, which was otherwise pre-
possessing, somewhat repulsive, and even hideous when viewed in connec-
tion with his lawless practices. His eyes were a very light blue, of that
class which approximates so nearly to a grey, and in their restless wander-
ings were constantly sparkling with intelligence..
Bell was a native of Alabama. He had received a medical education,
and, it is said, practiced that profession when he first came to California,
in 1850. He first took to mining, and being unlucky at that, his next step
was gambling. When that ceased to pay, he took to the road, and was
engaged as a robber for about two years, in which time he acquired a fame
for boldness and success in this section second only to Joaquin Murietta's.
At the outset, it is said, he generally traveled alone, and, for his better
security, wore a coat of armor under his clothes. He never shed the blood
of his victim unless it became absolutely necessary to enforce a compli-
ance with his demands. It was known that he had associated with him
several persons scarcely less noted than himself, one of whom, an escaped
convict named Bill Gristy, alias Bill White, when the band was broken in
upon by a detachment of the Sacramento and Marysville police, was the
only one who escaped. Gristy was cruel, cunning and blood-thirsty. This
scoundrel was in Bell's band for three months. The band was supposed to
number from six to eight, and they ranged the country along the foothills
from the Yuba to Granite City. Their depredations were mainly confined
to the several roads crossing in the neighborhood between Granite and Gold
Hill, in Placer County. The country was rough, broken and covered with
an impenetrable chaparral, in the recesses of which "an army with banners"
might securely hide. Their outrages in this favorite field followed each
other in such rapid succession that scarcely a day passed during the sum-
mer of 1856 without furnishing a newspaper story from the calendar of
their exploits, but in no instance did they shed blood. The plan of the
chief was to frighten the traveler to terms, and avoid the cruelty of murder.
On one occasion, Bell and Gristy, with one other, made an attack upon
a man who was traveling from Downieville to Marysville with a large sum
of money in his possession. The traveler resisted, fired upon his assailants,
and finally fled from them toward a deep canyon in which, if he could reach
it, he knew he was safe from pursuit on horseback. Just as he was about
to reach his goal, Gristy fired with a navy revolver and shot him in the
thigh, knocking him down. The robbers relieved him of his money; but
instead of dispatching him, or leaving him to die from the hemorrhage of
his wound, "Doctor" Bell kindly and expertly took up the severed artery,
bound up the wound, and just at that moment hearing a wagon pass, turned
to one of his subordinates and ordered him to attend to the teamster. The
wagon was stopped, the driver relieved of his cash, the wounded man placed
upon a mattress, hastily made in the bottom of the wagon, and the parties
dismissed, with the injunction to "drive slow and pick their road." The
108 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
wounded man requested Bell to tie his (the traveler's) horse behind the
wagon. Bell refused, but assured him that he should have his horse, as he
seemed attached to him, and that he would turn him loose in the woods,
after stripping off his bridle and saddle, which promise he faithfully kept.
Jim Webster
In 1855 and 1856, Jim Webster was the terror of Timbuctoo and vicin-
ity. He was a highwayman, and robbed and murdered a number of people.
A reward was offered for his capture or death, but no one was daring
enough to attempt the deed. In 1855, he killed three men in a ravine near
Timbuctoo, with three shots from his revolver. After committing numerous
depredations and criminal acts, he was killed by one of his own men.
"Jack Williams' Ghost"
George Shanks was a noted highwayman, usually called "Jack Will-
iams' Ghost." He was a waiter in a hotel at Camptonville, and left there
when he was sixteen years of age. He was afterward shot by Stephen
Vanard, between San Juan and Nevada.
Tommie Brown and Brother
In October, 1876, Tommie Brown and his brother, who had been terror-
izing all the northern part of the State, robbed the stage near the toll-house,
one mile west of the Oregon House, the brother going to the head of the
horses and Tom leveling his gun on the driver. E. Scammond, a banker
from Downieville, was on the stage with $18,000 in dust, and leveled his
gun on Brown, who also changed his aim to Scammond. Both fired at the
same time. Scammond fell in the stage with several buckshot wounds, and
after a little difficulty in securing the horses, which were frightened by the
firing, the passengers, mail and express were robbed, and the stage was
allowed to proceed. The $18,000 was not secured, as the dust was hidden
in the gun case, valise and trunk, which Scammond recovered. A party
pursued the Browns, and coming upon their camp, fired upon them and
mortally wounded the brother. Tom gave himself up and was sentenced
to San Ouentin for a term of ten years. When brought back as a witness in
another case, he managed to escape from the Marysville city jail, April 26,
1877. Rearrested in Oregon after robbing the Shasta stage, he pleaded guilty
when arraigned, and had seven years added to his prison term. Photographs
of Tommie Brown and his brother are in the archives of the sheriff's office in
Marysville.
"Black Bart"
In later years "Black Bart," another noted stage robber, figured in
outrages up and down the State. After he was captured and exposed, he
told the officers he frequently visited Marysville without being recognized.
He was known during his career as "Black Bart, the Po 8," because of the
rhymes he left at the scene of his crimes.
OTHER NOTED CRIMINALS AND CRIMES
Killing of "Mountain Scott"
Shortly after noon on June 2, 1868, Hank L. McCoy and Jim Ueaman,
members of the Marysville force, went to the lower section of the city to
arrest Charles Williams, alias "Mountain Scott," who was wanted for the
murder of a man named Ritter at Michigan Bar, and who was suspected of
the killing of a Marysville policeman, "Butch" Dobler, a short time before.
On turning the corner of B and First Streets, the officers espied "Mountain
Scott" seated in front of an Italian store. AVhen the fugitive observed the
officers coming, he immediately started to run across the levee, the officers
in pursuit. When he reached the top of the embankment, he turned and
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 109
fired a shot at his pursuers, which went wide of the mark. When Leaman
returned the fire, the man ran down the levee to the corner of First Street
and California Alley, now Chestnut Street. McCoy then opened fire, and
his aim proved good at two attempts. "Mountain Scott" dropped, and
died almost instantly. He had taken two shots at McCoy, however, before
lie fell, and officer Leaman had resumed shooting. It was later ascertained
that the deceased was a noted criminal, wanted for several offenses; that
he was a native of Jamaica, aged thirty years ; and that his correct
name was Charles Williams.
Murder of Dr. Gray
On the evening of July 4, 1868, while firecrackers and pistols still were
popping in celebration of the nation's natal day, a shot was fired which
went unnoticed amid the uproar, and because unnoticed gave the killer of
Dr. J. B. Gray, prominent Marysville physician, time to make a get-away,
which, however, proved short-lived.
While Dr. Gray was standing near the door of the Magnolia saloon,
afterward known as Foster's Bar, talking with a friend, Rufus Swett,
former resident of La Porte, Plumas County, and of St. Louis, Sierra
County, approached and engaged Dr. Gray in conversation in a low tone.
Friends of Dr. Gray who were standing near testified at the coroner's
inquest that the first words they heard from Dr. Gray were, "Get away
from me; I don't want to have anything to do with you." To which
Swett replied: "I am a big enough man for you." The next instant a shot
rang out, and "then Dr. Gray moved toward the curb, saying, "He has shot
me through and through !" Swett ran up D Street to Third, over Third
to E, across E diagonally to the corner of E and Third, thence to Commer-
cial Alley, down to the Yuba River levee, and up the river to the bridge,
which then crossed the river at E Street and was known as the "Hawley
Bridge." Twenty or thirty citizens, aroused by cries of "Stop the mur-
derer !" and "Go to the bridge !" followed after Swett. The one to reach
him first turned back when Swett leveled his pistol at him. Search for
Swett that night proved futile, though citizens and police kept strict vigil.
The next morning, at 10 o'clock, William Elliott reported seeing Swett
at the corner of Fifteenth and Yuba Streets, and also reported that a mare
belonging to J. Joy was stolen soon after Swett was seen there. Thinking
that this was a plan to throw them off the scent, the officers paid but little
attention to the story.
That night city Marshal Nightingill, police officer Dan Derrickson,
Deputy Sheriff Hewitt, and a man named John Stincer, armed with shot-
guns, proceeded to the home of William Totman, a friend of Swett, on
Yuba Street, and lay in wait, having worked out a theory that Swett would
call there. Soon Swett appeared and was ordered by Derrickson to throw
up his hands, which he reluctantly did, at the same time assuring Derrick-
son that his pistol was empty. Derrickson called the other officers and
soon had Swett marching toward the city, arms upraised. As the party
passed the Totman house, Swett asked permission to go in and get a drink,
but this was refused him.
As a train of cars standing on the track at A and Sixth Streets was
passed, Swett suddenly dodged behind the last car and took to his heels.
Although Derrickson tripped and fell, he recovered soon enough to fire,
the charge taking effect in Swett's left forearm. It was then an easy
matter to land Swett at the city jail. Here a crowd of citizens assembled
and demanded that Swett be hung, but the mob was soon subdued with
assurances that the law would mete out justice in the case.
110 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
Swett told the officers that he did not fire the first shot, and did not
dream of violence on Dr. Gray's part. He said the difficulty arose out of
Dr. Gray's betraying Mrs. Swett.
The coroner's jury was made up of Fred N. Pauly, D. H. Harney,
E'. W. "Whitney, Emmett Brown, Fred C. Chase, W. C. Swain, L. T. Crane,
and J. T. Dickey. Their verdict held Swett accountable for the slaying.
Dr. R. H. McDaniel, father of the present superior judge, Dr. E. T. Wil-
kins and Dr. L. Lasvigne were witnesses at the inquest. A. Suss, mer-
chant, Thomas McDermott, then familiarly known as "Mac, the Baker,"
and A. Lloyd testified as eye-witnesses to the shooting of Dr. Gray. The
funeral of Dr. Gray was largely attended, as he was very popular in the
community and had many friends throughout the State.
Investigation into Swett's past showed that he left La Porte after
arousing suspicion that he had committed burglary. He also had gained
an unenviable reputation at Conner Creek and St. Louis.
On October 14, the grand jury of Yuba County returned an indict-
ment accusing Swett of the murder of Dr. Gray. The true bill was signed by
1. H. Roberts as foreman of the jury. R. R. Merrill, as district attorney, and
Barney Eilerman, as county clerk, took the usual part in the proceedings.
S. M. Bliss was the county judge before whom the indictment was presented.
Swett employed J. G. Eastman, Marysville attorney with a State-wide
reputation, to defend him. Eastman challenged the indictment upon the
grounds that the grand jurors were not drawn and empaneled in accordance
with the law, and that all the jurors empaneled had formed an opinion that
Swett was guilty of the crime. This demurrer availed the defendant nothing.
One week after the grand jury indictment was returned against Swett —
October 22, to be specific — the prisoner took leave of the county jail by night.
He was locked in an iron cell as usual on the previous evening. In the
morning the jailer found the cell door open, a hole cut through the east wall
of the jail, and steps made from the staves of a bucket forming an ingenious
stairway up the outside wall overlooking the yard. When the news of the
escape was broadcasted, the citizens of Marysville, especially the friends of
Dr. Gray, were far from complimentary of Sheriff A. P. Spear, who had
ignored warnings that he should keep a night watch at the jail during the
incarceration of Swett, and take other precautions. It was openly charged
that the sheriff connived at the escape. A reward of $300 was offered for the
capture of Swett.
On December 30, at the request of the district attorney, District Judge
I. S. Belcher issued a bench warrant for the rearrest of Swett, who was
reported as having been seen in South America ; but he was never retaken.
Decker-Jewett Bank Robbery
The latter half of the year 1873 provided enough excitement for the
officials of the city of Marysville and the officers of Yuba County to offset a
season of quiet that for some time had prevailed. It was in that period that
the futile attempt to rob the Decker-Jewett Bank, then located at First and
High Streets, was made.
About 3 o'clock in the afternoon of July 11, 1873, John H. Jewett was
standing behind the counter of the bank acting as cashier, and the late A. C.
Bingham was engaged in a curtained counting room of the bank near by, out
of public view. Supposing that Jewett was alone, a man slipped up and
leveled a six-shooter at his head, saying, "Don't you move !" Jewett, quickly
comprehending the situation, crouched down and moved behind 'a desk,
exclaiming at the same time, addressing Bingham, "The gun!"
There were four double-barreled shotguns in different places in the bank.
Jewett seized the nearest, not far from where he had taken refuge. The
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 111
robber passed inside the railing and grappled with Jewett, just as he was
grasping the gun, and struck him on the head with his revolver. Bingham,
rising from his seat, fired a shot at the robber with a pistol. The stubborn
resistance from the bank officials, coupled with the fact that he was receiving
no assistance from his accomplices, determined the robber to retreat. But
before he made his exit, Bingham, from over the curtains of his desk, fired
both barrels of a shotgun loaded with buckshot point blank at the retreating
robber. Jewett also fired once with his shotgun. The man staggered through
the door and fell on the sidewalk. Jewett followed, and was about to shoot
again, when the man begged to be spared, saying, "Don't, I am dying."
John A. Toney, the partner of the dying man, unhitched the wounded
robber's horse, standing in front of the bank, and mounting the animal, rode
rapidly toward E Street, and on to Yuba City. The wounded robber proved
to be James Collins, alias Frank Whipple, and best known in the section as
"Big Frank." He was as fine a specimen of man as can be imagined, those
who knew him say. When he was carried to the police station, doctors
found that twenty buckshot had entered at the small of his back, two were
found near the crown of his head, and one in his neck. He died that night in
the jail, after suffering great agony.
Before dying, Collins implicated P. W. Winkley, who had served the city
both as city marshal and chief of the fire department, as the master brain
in the plan to rob the bank. He had during his death agony, earlier in the
day, asked A. C. Bingham, who called on him, if Winkley had said anything
to him about the plan to rob the bank. Bingham assured him that Winkley
had not done so. Bingham's suspicions were at once aroused; and it after-
ward transpired that the plot was framed in Winkley's saloon in Yuba City,
two clays before, between "Big Frank," John A. Toney and Winkley. Wink-
ley was to take a station at the corner of First and D Streets and give the
necessary signals. He was to take off his hat and replace it when he thought
the time ripe to act. It was then recalled by citizens that Winkley was seen
hastening from the vicinity of the bank when the shooting began, something
quite unlike anything he was ever before known to do at a time of peril and
public excitement, as he was a brave fellow, according to his police record.
Winkley was arrested, and was convicted of complicity in the attempted
robbery. He served a term in the penitentiary.
Officers Hank L. McCoy, father of Charles J. McCoy, the present sheriff
of Yuba County, and Mike Hogan took up the pursuit of Toney, the trail
leading through Sutter County and into Colusa County. In the territory now
known as Glenn County, a constable apprehended Toney. Handcuffing him,
he placed him on the robber's own animal, a racer, and, mounting one of his
own, rode alongside. The start was made for Marysville. Reaching a water-
ing-trough at a small town, the constable decided that the horses needed
water ; but no sooner had he dismounted for the purpose of watering the
horses than Toney gave his horse the spurs and was off at lightning speed.
He made a clever get-away, and found security for a time in the Lava Beds
in the northern part of the State. Hank McCoy did not quit the chase, how-
ever. Suspecting the direction Toney had taken, he followed on horseback,
and was rewarded by coming upon his man. There was a gun battle in which
Toney received a broken arm. He then gave up, and was returned to Marys-
ville by McCoy. He paid the same penalty as Winkley.
Killing of Dennis Dufficy
Marysville was thrown into a state of excitement on the evening of
Saturday, August 1, 1874, about 5:30 o'clock, when it became known that
Dennis Dufficy, of the firm of Rohr & Dufficy, furniture dealers on D Street
between Fourth and Fifth, had been stabbed, perhaps fatally, by his brother-
112 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
in-law, John B. Rohr. Soon the store and the street held a crowd of excited
persons, seeking the details of the affray.
It developed that the only persons present at the cutting were DufRcy,
his father-in-law and partner, and his brother-in-law. The elder Rohr and
Dufficy had a disagreement over business matters, during which, it was
alleged, Dufficy used improper language toward his father-in-law and slapped
him in the face, whereupon John B. Rohr, who was employed in the store,
resented the treatment of his father, saying he would not see him abused and
struck. At this juncture, Dufficy turned upon young Rohr and knocked him
down. Rohr, on recovering himself, drew his pocket-knife, which had a long,
sharp blade, and warned Dufficy to let him alone. Paying no heed to the
warning and drawn knife, Dufficy approached Rohr and endeavored to strike
him with a high chair, or stool. It was then Rohr used the knife, inflicting a
wound on the left side of the abdomen, severing the intestine. Dufficy ran
to the street, followed by Ruhr, who carried his knife in his hand.
On meeting Oscar Stone and David Kertchem, Dufficy informed them
that he was mortally wounded, and asked that a doctor be called. Ex-Sheriff
Matt Woods, who happened along, took Rohr into custody and delivered
him to polic officers McCoy and Murphy at the station. Dufficy was taken
to the drug store of Scott & Flint, where he was examined by Dr. S. J. S.
Rogers, and given first aid. According to the physician Dufncy's condition
was made highly alarming because of the fact that he insisted that he was
going to die from the wound, which, in the opinion of the doctor, was not
necessarily fatal. Dufficy died two days later, on August 3.
At the October term of the grand jury, A. B. Crook, foreman, an indict-
ment was returned by that body charging Rohr with the murder of Dufficy.
E. A. Davis, who later became the judge of the joint superior court of Yuba
and Sutter Counties, introduced the testimony, as district attorney. On
May 7, 1875, Rohr secured his dismissal upon the grounds of self-defense.
To those acquainted with the present-day language of a grand-jury indict-
ment and a court complaint, the reading of the "true bill," returned against
Rohr will prove of interest. The indictment, in part, used this language :
"The said John B. Rohr, on the first day of August, 1874, with force and
arms in and upon the body of Dennis Dufficy, then and there being, feloni-
ously and wilfully did assault and, with a certain knife, which the said
John B. Rohr in his right hand had and held, the said Dennis Dufficy in and
upon the belly of the said Dennis Dufficy, then and there did feloniously and
wilfully strike and thrust, giving to said Dennis Dufficy then and there and
with the knife aforesaid, in and upon the belly aforesaid, one mortal wound,
of which said mortal wound the said Dennis Dufficy, from the first day of
August, 1874, until the third day of August, 1874, did languish and languish-
in gly did live, on which third day of August the said Dennis Dufficy did die
of said mortal wound."
The warrant of arrest in this case issued from the mayor's court and was
signed by William Hawley, the then mayor of Marysville.
Race-track Murder
About four o'clock on the morning of November 30, 1878, John McDaniel,
lessee of the Marysville race-track, now known as Knight's Recreation Park,
and upon which the links of the Marysville Golf Club are located, was aroused
by his wife, who heard noises as if someone was jimmying a door on the
premises. McDaniel started to investigate, and within a foot or two of his
bedroom door encountered a Chinese, who proved to be Ah Ben. It is thought
that McDaniel, who was a brave man, seized the visitor, having been robbed
a few nights before. Mrs. McDaniel heard a tussle, and presently heard her
HISTORY OF YUBA-COUNTY 113
husband cry out, "Oh, my God, help ! help !" When she reached him, McDan-
iel and the Chinaman were still struggling. Although fatally wounded,
McDaniel was doing his best to secure his murderer. Mrs. McDaniel pulled
the Chinese away, and as she did so her husband staggered into the open,
fell, and soon expired from a wound he had received in the breast from an
inch-and-a-quarter chisel carried by Ah Ben. In the hand of the deceased
was found a poniard blade, which, it is supposed, he wrenched from his mur-
derer's hand and used in self-defense. The Chinese showed a stab in the left
arm, and bruises on his face, proving that the struggle with his victim had
been a desperate one.
Ah Ben turned upon Mrs. McDaniel, and she was forced to back away
from his grasp. About this time, Ah Joe, Chinese cook in the employ of the
McDaniel family, rushed out of the dining-room to her assistance. The mur-
derer, at sight of Ah Joe, started to run ; but the cook, at the risk of winning
the condemnation of his race, followed and caught Ah Ben. He knocked the
murderer down, hog-tied him, and then brought him back to the house, where
he was kept until delivered to the custody of Police Officers John Colford and
Mike Hogan. Constable Ezra Brow, who lived in the neighborhood, had
been sent for, and he helped in the landing of Ah Ben in the city prison.
That evening an autopsy was held by Coroner George Fronk, assisted by
Drs. C. C. Harrington, C. E. Stone, and S. J. S. Rogers, all now deceased.
The death-wound was found in the region of the stomach, the chisel having
penetrated between the ribs and pierced the liver in its course. Besides his
widow, McDaniel left six children, five of whom are still living. They are
Mrs. Henry Blue, wife of Councilman Blue, Mrs. Harry S. Day, and Harry
McDaniel, all of Marysville, and Mrs. Charles Day, of Berkeley, and George
McDaniel, of Stockton. Another daughter, Mrs. George Crossley, died about
two years ago.
Soon after dark on the evening of the same day, a mob organized on the
corner of D and Third Streets. During the day the populace had become
aroused because of the cruel murder of McDaniel, who was a popular and
esteemed citizen. Some said the community would be disgraced if Ah Ben
were allowed to live through the day. At dusk the bell-ringer, a darkey who
was employed in those days to spread sudden news and announce auction
sales, got busy, and through his efforts a crowd of 300 or 400 assembled. A
box had been placed at the intersection of Third and D, from which S. L.
Howard, an attorney, made a speech calculated to incite the mob and induce
it to proceed to the county jail, break down the iron doors, seize Ah Ben, and
hang him. While the mob was at the height of its fury, Hon. John H.
Jewett, Marysville banker, stepped to the box and made an effort to convince
the turbulent crowd that they were acting unwisely and imprudently, and
should disperse as good citizens. But the crowd manifested true mob spirit
by stifling free speech. Jewett was interrupted by such a noise as to render
his remarks inaudible. A. C. Bingham, former councilman, and later mayor,
endeavored also to address the crowd, with but little better success. Bing-
ham resented the cat-calls of the crowd, and for a time it looked as if he
would mix things with the offenders. Knowing Bingham to be fearless, the
mob gave closer attention toward the close of his address, which was along
the same line as Jewett's.
Howard was again called to the box. He made a speech at this time that
rendered him liable to arrest. Finally, the meeting resolved to go to the jail
and secure the murderer. A long rope had been obtained, and this was
placed in the hands of Howard. Then there was a call, and a question as to
who should be the leader. To the shouts "Who shall lead?" came the reply
of all the mob, "Howard ! Howard !" But Howard appeared a better talker
114 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
than leader of a forlorn hope, and held back. A few men seized him, how-
ever, placed him in an express wagon, and ordered the driver to proceed to
the county jail at Sixth and D Streets.
"When the crowd arrived in front of the courthouse, they halted; and on
looking for Howard, they found he was missing. At this critical moment
Mayor X. D. Rideout, early-day banker, took a position on the courthouse
steps and briefly addressed the crowd, advising law and order. He told the
mob that the jail was strongly guarded, the sheriff firm, and that forcible
entry would surely mean the needless loss of valuable lives, which he would
regret to see. Mayor Rideout was followed by Sheriff Hank L. McCoy, who
appeared on the steps with his chief deputy, Ike N. Aldrich, who later became
justice of the peace of Marysville Township. McCoy assured the mob that
if Ah Ben were taken from the jail it would not be without bloodshed. At
this the mob returned down street, and generally dispersed. They decided
that the sheriff meant every word he uttered. Up to a late hour that night,
however, there was a disgruntled crowd of twenty or thirty assembled near
the end of the D Street bridge, loath to give up ; but they, too, dispersed about
midnight. Ah Ben was tried before Judge Phil W. Keyser and a jury; he was
convicted, and sentenced to be hanged in the courthouse yard, as was then
the custom. On Friday, March 14, 1879, the murder of McDaniel was expi-
ated on the gallows before a throng that crowded the courtyard. Many a
lad played truant from school, in hope of getting a glimpse of the execution,
which many did from the treetops and housetops in the neighborhood of the
courthouse. The hanging was well planned and successfully executed. In an
interview with a newspaper man before his execution, Ah Ben, an ignorant
individual, declared he would kill McDaniel again under like circumstances.
Drs. R. H. McDaniel, David Powell, C. C. Harrington, A. B. Caldwell, and
B. Phillips comprised the coterie of physicians who pronounced Ah Ben dead.
Murder in Schimpville
One of the most cruel murders in the criminal annals of Marysville was
that committed at an early morning hour on October 23, 1882, at the Jacob
Schimp dairy in the eastern portion of the city. Between Matthias Blumer
and Fred Schindler, milkers in the employ of Jacob Schimp, a hatred had
grown up, occasioned by jealousy over a woman. Blumer picked a quarrel
with Schindler and, when the latter defended himself, beat him to death with
a hammer. He hid the body first in a manger, and then buried it under the
floor of the barn. That night he loaded the body into a wagon and threw it
into Simmerly Slough, east of the City Cemetery. A Chinese fisherman
pulled the body to the surface, and the arrest of Blumer followed. He claimed
he acted in self-defense when Schindler, a younger man, attacked him with
a pitchfork. Blumer was convicted and sent to San Quentin, but escaped and
was free a long time before he was discovered in an Eastern State and returned
to the penitentiary.
Assassination of George Ball
At 12:30 o'clock on the morning of July 16, 1890, the Marysville fire
department responded to an alarm sounded on account, of a fire at the rear
of the Belding Soda Works, corner of Second and Elm Streets. The fire
seemed to have started under the floor of a room adjoining a stable where
the delivery horse was kept. The blaze had spread to hay on the floor of the
barn ; but as it had not gained much headway, the firemen had little trouble
in quelling it. They left the place without suspecting anything unusual.
Officers and friends of George Ball, popular manager of the soda factory,
wondered at his non-appearance at the fire; and when Lisa, the daughter of
John Stevenson, residing next door to the soda works, told her parents and
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 115
the police that she heard cries emanating from the building- shortly before
the fire was discovered, close investigation was made of the premises by
Deputy Sheriff John Colford, Police Officer "Fawn" Clark, and Mr. Steven-
son. In a short time the mutilated body of Ball was found under the partially
burned straw on the barn floor. Save for a finger ring well known to his
friends, the remains were unrecognizable. By the side of the body was a cast-
iron pipe two feet in length, with which Ball had been battered unmercifully
about the head. The body had been buried in the straw and the fire started
in the hope of concealing the murder. Ball's gold watch and chain were
missing, and it was found that the murderers had opened a safe in the office,
without reward. No money was ever placed in the safe.
Suspicion first pointed to Chinese residing in the vicinity, but this theory
was not pursued for long. On April 30, 1891, the mystery began to clear,
with the arrest at Sacramento, by Chief of Police Drew, of William J. Ousley,
a mulatto, and Henry Smith, a negro. Smith proved an alibi and was released.
Ousley, a victim of lung trouble, died in the Yuba County jail on August 9
of the same year. Before he passed away he made a confession to Deputy
Sheriff Tom E. Bevan, admitting his complicity, and implicating a colored
man named George Maddux and one George Collins, who a short time before
was killed in Stockton. Maddux was apprehended in a southern county and
was returned to Marysville, tried, convicted and sent to prison for life.
Ousley told the officers that Collins planned the job, and that he acted as
lookout to tell the other two of the entry of Ball into the building. They
knew that his last act before retiring was to water his horse. They took a
position in the barn and felled Ball when he entered. A dish-washer called
''Shorty Knight," who worked with Ousley in a Marysville restaurant just
prior to the murder, was the person who gave to Chief of Police Drew, of
Sacramento, the first clew to the murderers.
A Christmas Day Crime
Strangely in keeping with a belief that for a long time was held in
Marysville, to the effect that a murder is committed in the city every twenty
years on Christmas Day, Edward Raymond, a painter, shot and killed Thomas
Brice, orchard worker, at the intersection of the F Street levee and Second
Street, on December 25, 1891. The men had a dispute over a dollar loan
made while both were drinking and gambling. Witnesses said Raymond was
trying to induce Brice to accompany him to Yuba City, when Raymond sud-
denly drew a revolver and fired. Brice died in a short time. Raymond was
arrested by Police Officer F. B. Crane and Joseph Heyl. He was held to
answer to the Superior Court on a murder charge, but escaped from the Yuba
County jail by scaling the wall with a rope. The officers contended that
Raymond received help from the outside. He was never retaken, although
reports came in frequently that he was in hiding in his native State, Texas.
Robbery of Oregon Express
Marysville has never experienced a more exciting day than Saturday,
March 30, 1895. Shortly after midnight of that day, the Oregon Express
train was held up and robbed by two handsome bandits, who turned out to
be Jack Brady, alias McGuire, and J. W. Browning, erstwhile farm hands
who for several months had been employed on ranches in Linda Township,
and had attended dances throughout the countryside, and caused many a
female heart to go pit-a-pat. The train made a short stop at Wheatland en
route north, and at that point the two robbers boarded the blind baggage.
When the train was within four miles of Marysville, Fireman Nethercutt was
surprised at having a revolver thrust in his face by one of the robbers. The
other man gave orders to Engineer Bowser to stop the train, which was done.
116 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
The engine force was then compelled to accompany the robbers to the express
car, which was broken into.
Unsatisfactory returns from their search in the express car determined
the robbers to visit the day coaches. After forming a sack from a leg of an
old pair of overalls, the robbers forced the fireman to enter the first day coach
with them, and the engineer to follow behind them. At the point of revolvers,
the passengers were compelled to place all their coin and valuables in the
sack, among their victims being several men from Yuba and Sutter Counties.
The robbers next visited the smoker. At this juncture Brakeman Sim-
mons recalled that Sheriff John J. Bogard of Tehama County was sleeping
in a Pullman of the train. He remembered also that Bogard, than whom
there was no more fearless officer in California, had adjured him some time
before that if ever a train hold-up was attempted, and he was on the train,
Simmons was to apprise him. Simmons accordingly got word to Sheriff
Bogard through the Pullman porter. Partially dressing himself, Bogard made
his way to the smoker. He entered one end as the robbers entered the other.
Crouching behind a car seat, Bogard took deliberate aim and shot the taller
of the robbers through the heart, killing him instantly. In less time than it
takes to write it, a shot rang out from the doorway the sheriff had just
entered. The bullet entered Bogard's back in the region of the kidneys, and
in a short time he was dead from loss of blood. As the source of the shot
which killed the sheriff was never definitely determined, many believe to this
day that there was a third robber in the gang, and that when he heard the
shot which killed one of his pals he took revenge.
Brady, the surviving robber, immediately left the car after the death
of his partner, Browning, not even waiting to take a purse containing $51
which had been dropped alongside Browning's body. Brady, it was afterward
learned, made his way to Marysville on a bicycle, two of which were in
hiding under a wagon bridge near the scene of the robbery. Clerks
in Marysville hotels recalled that_ two young men, purporting to be
farm hands and answering the descriptions of the train robbers, had fre-
quently taken lodgings with them, and from this clue the officers worked.
The hotel clerks, on viewing the body of the dead robber, had their suspicions
confirmed, and officers took up the trail of Brady, who proved more than
elusive. It was not until the following July that he was apprehended in the
jungles near Sacramento. He was convicted and sent to the penitentiary for
life. One juror saved him from hanging.
The train robbery was the signal for extra editions of the Marysville
papers, and this city received nation-wide notice through press reports of the
crime. For two days throngs visited the Marysville morgue to view the
remains of the brave sheriff and the handsome young robber. The pistol with
which Sheriff Bogard killed Browning was one that the people of Tehama
County presented him in recognition of his faithful service in office.
Murder of Julius Pier
On the night of May 1, 1895, Julius Pier, aged Hebrew second-hand
dealer on C Street, between Second and Third, was murdered at the rear of
his store, where he slept. He was found next morning gagged and hog-tied,
and showing signs of having made a fight, against odds, for his life. Police
Officer Hugh McCoy, who worked on the case with City Marshal J. A.
Maben, discovered in a toilet bowl at the rear of the premises a portion of
the shirt which was used to throttle Pier to death. This clew led to the
apprehension of Stuart A. Green, alias George Duroy, a young electrician,
who a few days before had installed an electric bell in the police station for
the city. He was wearing the shirt at that time, and McCoy remembered it
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 117
on account of the flashy pattern. Shortly after his arrest, Green confessed
and implicated a barber, at the same time admitting that his was the master
mind, and that he had planned to rob Pier for his money. When Pier resisted,
the pair murdered him, slowly strangling him to death. Green was well con-
nected in the East. His father came to Marysville and employed counsel
who saved him from the gallows, the jury voting for life imprisonment.
Marshall J. Miller, his barber accomplice, who conducted a shop on Second
Street, near C, went into court and pleaded guilty. There was nothing for
the court to do but pronounce the death penalty. He was executed at San
Ouentin prison on September 28, 1896, after the supreme court had affirmed
the judgment of the lower court.
Tragic Results of I. W. W. Agitation in the Hop-fields
On Sunday evening, August 3, 1913, the people of Marysville were star-
tled by news from Wheatland, twelve miles south, that Edward T. Manweli,
district attorney of Yuba County, had lost his life, that Sheriff George H.
Voss had been mortally wounded and that a deputy sheriff named Thomas
Riordan had been killed, as the result of an I. W. W. agitation in the camp
of the hop-pickers on the Durst Brothers' place, which adjoined Wheatland.
Citizens, aided by the police, at once formed relief parties, and these parties
hastened, armed, to the scene. Coroner J. K. Kelly and his deputies, with
City Marshal C. J. McCoy, now sheriff, were among the first to arrive at
Wheatland, where they found the residents terrorized by the awful events of
the afternoon.
Investigation proved that the trouble in the hop-fields had been brewing
for several days. Agents of the I. W. W. had worked, in their usual way,
to cause the men and women employed by Durst Brothers to become dissat-
isfied with their wage and with camp conditions as regarded sanitation and
other matters. On the clay prior to the murder of the district attorney and
the attack upon the sheriff, a committee headed by the leaders of the I. W. W.
contingent had waited upon R. H. Durst of Durst Brothers with a written
demand for an increase in the pickers' rates, for movable toilets in the field,
for separate toilets for the women, for "high-pole" men, for lemonade made
from lemons instead of acid, for the delivery of drinking water in the field
twice a day, and for a committee from the pickers to inspect the hops and
pass on them. Early in the morning of the fatal day, a second visit was paid
Durst by the committee. Durst accepted some of the terms and vetoed others,
chiefly the demand for increased pay, saying he would continue to pay the
wages generally paid in California by growers of hops.
Durst visited Wheatland, and without swearing to a complaint, demanded
that Constable Lee Anderson arrest the leader of the strikers. Complying
with Durst's request, Anderson' went to the field and attempted to arrest the
man pointed out by Durst. The reception given Anderson was a rough one,
Anderson having confessed that he did not have a warrant of arrest. Return-
ing to Wheatland, he had a complaint drawn. Armed with a warrant, he
now made another attempt to arrest the leader. This time he received a
reception even warmer than the first. In the scrimmage, in which women
pickers as well as men participated, Anderson was wounded in the arm,
and was fortunate to escape with his life.
Again repairing to Wheatland, Anderson notified Sheriff G. H. Voss over
the phone of the conditions, and advised immediate action. The sheriff
assembled several deputies in Marysville, among them the man Riordan,
whom he knew to be fearless, and proceeded to Wheatland. Arriving there,
he was met by District Attorney Manweli, who had spent the day in Wheat-
118 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
land on legal business. Manwell volunteered to accompany the posse to the
scene of the trouble.
On their arrival at the hop-fields, the officers found that an indignation
meeting was in progress, with one man perched on a box in the center of a
dance platform, making a speech of an incendiary character. Making his
way through the crowd, Manwell sought the cause for the gathering. As he
did so the strikers surged around him, and about the sheriff and his deputies.
In the excitement, a portion of the platform broke down, as did the box the
speaker was standing upon. ' This seemed to intensify the bad blood among
the rioters. As Manwell stood with his arm upraised, and with cigar in
hand, appealing to the strikers to "keep the peace," he was shot down,
and died almost instantly.
The rioters then turned their attention to the other "Scissorsville offi-
cers," this being the term by which the leader had referred to the sheriff and
others in his speech before their arrival. Sheriff Voss was next attacked. A
large Porto Rican among the strikers secured the sheriff's club, and was
beating him over the head with it when Deputy Sheriff Henry Daken, a resi-
dent of Wheatland, unloaded one barrel of his shotgun into the back of Voss'
assailant, killing him instantly. Just who shot the man Riordan was never
learned with certainty.
After killing the Porto Rican, Deputy Sheriff Daken was compelled to
shoot another man, a Mexican, in the hand. His gun was then empty, and
he was forced to flee the mob. He arrived at the store building pursued by
about twenty of the rioters. Taking a position behind the counter, after the
doors were locked, he exchanged his clothing for other garments provided
him, and shaved off his moustache. Thus disguised, he was able peaceably
to retreat from the building toward evening, after the mob had threatened to
burn the place. Daken was later the principal witness at the trial of the
murderers of District Attorney Manwell. But for the work of Daken, the
horde probably would have murdered every one of the sheriff's deputies.
The unfortunate district attorney was a member of the Wheatland
branch of Odd Fellows. Members of the lodge, as soon as they learned of
the murder, formed a committee to go to the scene of the crime and recover
the body. At risk of being treated roughly, the committee well performed
their disagreeable task. They met some faint opposition, but finally, on
proving that their mission was a peaceable and a sacred one, were able to
remove the remains to their hall, to rest there till the arrival of the coroner.
Several suspects were arrested by City Marshal C. J. McCoy and taken
to the County Jail in Marysville. On the following morning, Adjt.-Gen.
E. A. Forbes, close friend of Manwell and former resident of Yuba County,
ordered Company I, of Oroville, and Company G, of Sacramento, together
with Troop B of the latter place, to Wheatland, where martial law reigned
for several days.
Sheriff Voss was removed to a Marysville hospital, where he was forced
to remain until well into September before reporting at his office. For a
time his life wa« despaired of ; and while he lived for several years aftc-i this
experience, his friends contended that his life was cut short by the treatment
he received on "bloody Sunday" at Wheatland.
Through arrests made, and through further investigation, E. B. Stan-
wood, who was appointed by the supervisors to succeed E. T. Manwell as
district attorney, learned with the aid of other officers that "Blackie" Ford
and Herman D. Suhr were the ringleaders among the I. W. W. rioters. Ford
was traced to Winnemucca, Nev., and returned on August 18 to Marysville,
where he was recognized; as a man who previously had preached I. W. W.'
doctrine in the county-seat, Suhr was taken in Prescott, Ariz.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 119
The trial of Ford and Suhr, together with that of several suspects
indicted by the grand jury for the murder of Manwell, began on January 12,
1914. In the court-room appeared a number of "sob-sisters," some repre-
senting a San Francisco journal, and some others, members of organizations
allied with the I. W. W. The latter organization rented a house across from
the courthouse and established headquarters there, sending out literature
intended to create sympathy for the men on trial. The jurors chosen to hear
the evidence were A. F. Folsom, Browns Valley; W. H. Finch, eastern Yuba
County; A. J. McCarty, Hammonton ; C. E. Stephenson and Frank Platte,
Marysville ; Emile -Picard, who later was one of the victims, with his wife,
in a double murder, mentioned in this chapter; C. E. Shogren, August Erick-
son, and Edward Carlson, all of Arboga ; R. E. Alderman, of Waldo ; John
J. Norton, of Marigold ; and W. Bainbridge, of Rackerby. A. C. Allread,
a Marysville blacksmith, was selected by agreement as an alternate juror,
to take part in the verdict in the event of sickness or death of an}- member
of the jury. Daily attendants at the trial were men well known as active
in I. W. W. ranks. Such as were suspected of being present for ulterior
purposes were closely watched by the officers.
District Attorney Stanwood was assisted in the prosecution of the
defendants by W. H. Carlin, well-known Marysville attorney, who bore a
State-wide reputation as a criminal lawyer, but who always preferred to be
on the side of the defense. It was proven by the prosecution that Suhr had,
during the agitation at Wheatland, sent a telegram to I. W. W. headquarters
at San Francisco, ordering that "more wobblies be sent to Wheatland." A
verdict of conviction was returned against both Ford and Suhr, and they
were given life sentences. Several unsuccessful attempts have been made
to secure their parole, but to no avail. Judge E. P. McDaniel, who presided
at their trial, would never take a part in any movement toward commutation
of sentence or parole.
In Memoriam
Edward Tecumseh Manwell was a native of Wheatland. He taught
school a number of years in his native county, at the same time studying
law. His first political office was that of Assemblyman; and he served two
terms as a representative from this district, then known as the Eighth
Assembly District. He next was chosen county superintendent of schools,
holding the office from 1906 to 1910. In 1910, he succeeded Fred H. Greely,
present county auditor and recorder, as district attorney, filling the office
until his death. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, as well as of
the Odd Fellows, and had served as a member of the National Guard.
Manwell was survived by his widow and eight children, the oldest being
Ray Manwell, who at the time this is written is himself filling the office of
district attorney. The remains of Edward T. Manwell rest in the family
plot at Wheatland. The funeral procession that proceeded from Wheatland,
where the services were held, to the grave, was attended by people from all
walks of life in Yuba and the surrounding counties.
The conviction of Ford and Suhr has for years caused the I. W. W.'s
to give this section a wide berth. The Wheatland tragedy, it should be
added, had the effect of arousing the people of the State to legislation pro-
viding more definite rules for camps where workers are employed, particu-
larly as to sanitary conditions, proper housing, water supply, etc.
Murder of the Picards
The only double murder recorded in the annals of Yuba County took
place on the night of April 29, 1915, at the "Bit House," a roadside place on
the Marysville-Oroville highway, seven miles north of Marysville. The
120 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
victims were Emile Picard, an aged Frenchman, and his wife, Ellen Picard,
who was considerably younger. Connected with the place was a bar, through
which an entrance could be gained to their living-rooms.
The dastardly crime was discovered by Harvey Smullin, clerk for his
father, S. N. D. Smullin, a grocer of Honcut. Young Smullin, early in the
morning, entered the Picard kitchen with an order of groceries, and was
surprised not to find Mrs. Picard there to greet him. Going to the dining-
room, he came upon the kneeling form of Mrs. Picard, her hands joined as
if in prayer, and her head upturned as if pleading with her murderer to spare
her life. Mrs. Picard was dead from two bullet wounds, one entering between
the mouth and ear, and the other entering the neck and terminating in the
spinal cord, as the post-mortem examination afterward showed. The remains
of Picard were found in the barn on the place. Smullin rushed to the home
of ]. E. Strain and told of his discovery. Strain at once telephoned the
news to Sheriff C. J. McCoy, who with his deputies and the newspaper men
was soon at the scene of the crime. The first theory was that the couple
were robbed of their money and killed because they recognized the operators.
But when two purses were found on the premises — one in the bar and the
other in Mrs. Picard's lodgings — with $140 in coin in them, the officers were
puzzled, but for a short time only.
Behind an old clock in the barroom, Sheriff McCoy came upon a business
card bearing the name and address of William Shannon, cobbler of Honcut,
who was recognized by the neighbors of the Picards as a drinking man who
frequently visited their place. Eater in the clay, Sheriff McCoy met a farm
hand who said he observed a man answering Shannon's description walking
along the road between Ramirez Station on the Western Pacific Railroad
and the Picard place. That was about six o'clock in the evening; and the
coroner's office had reported to the officers that the Picards, according to
their observations of the bodies, had been killed about that hour. Two days
later a man serving time on the chain-gang in Marysville, for drunkenness,
told the police that he had seen a man burning a pair of overalls in a heating
stove at the rear of the Chicago Saloon. In the stove the officers found
the buttons from the overalls and a patent mark, all of which corresponded
with those on the brand of overalls William Shannon always wore.
Shannon was arrested at the Western Pacific depot as he was about to
board a train for Honcut. The wife of Shannon, when visited at Honcut a
few days before, told Sheriff McCoy that her husband had left home on the
night the murder was committed and had not returned. She said she thought
he had gone to Marysville for a spree.
Although he weakened after placed in jail, and made remarks in the
hearing of his fellow prisoners indicating a troubled conscience, Shannon
never confessed. He went to trial and was convicted. Certain peculiarities
on the soles of his boots corresponding to tracks found on the Picard
premises helped the jury to agree that the defendant was the murderer. One
juryman, however, saved him from the gallows, and he was given a life
term. He now is endeavoring to secure a parole.
Picard was a man of education, and when young was employed as buyer
of silks for a wholesale house in New York. His remains, with those of his
wife, rest in the Marysville Cemetery.
VICTIMS AMONG THE POLICE
John Sperbeck
In the period between September 6, 1915, and February 6, 1922, Marys-
ville lost three policemen at the hands of assassins. Police Officer John
Sperbeck was the first to receive a fatal bullet wound. About four o'clock
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 121
on the afternoon of September 6. 1915, while Sperbeck was on duty at the
police station, word came that a Chinese store on C Street, between First
and Second, had just been held up by a youthful-looking bandit, and the
contents of the till taken. Sperbeck at once responded, and with Chief of
Police C. A. Smith traced the robber to a lumber-yard near the corner of
Fourth and C Streets and found him hiding behind a pile of lumber, where
he was changing his outer clothing for some he had previously placed there.
He flashed a gun on Smith, at the same time taking refuge behind another
stack of lumber. Smith shouted to Sperbeck to beware of the man, and the
next moment a shot rang out. The robber had espied Sperbeck taking aim
at him from another portion of the yard, while crouched behind some tim-
bers. The robber's aim was true, the shot striking Sperbeck in the back of
the head and inflicting a fatal wound from which he died about seven o'clock
that evening, in a hospital to which citizens had hurried him. He never
regained consciousness.
The murderer proved to be Kosta Kromphold, alais John W. McLarney,
a New York lad, only eighteen years of age. He was caught in the Yuba
River bottom east of the city while trying to escape a horde of citizens who
took up the trail from the lumber-yard. The jury that tried him returned
a verdict of murder in the first degree, and he was hanged at Folsom prison.
James Mock
Policeman James Mock was shot at a spot in the jungles, a short distance
from the Western Pacific passenger depot on K Street, on May 7, 1918,
while in the discharge of his duties. His murderer was a colored man named
William Shortridge, who was traced to the spot after he had attempted an
early morning robbery at the Dawson House, a hostelry of pioneer days
which was wrecked in the year 1922 to make way for the service station now
located at Second and E Streets. Mock died a few days after he was shot.
Mock was in the act of placing his handcuffs on Shortridge when the
negro wrenched the officer's pistol from him and fired. He escaped, but was
found by citizens in the afternoon of the same day hiding in a grain-field
south of the city. He, too, was convicted and hanged.
Francis M. Heenan
About 9 : 30 o'clock in the evening of February 6, 1922, Police Officer
Francis M. Heenan had his attention attracted, as he was walking along C
Street, between First and Second, to a pistol shot fired in the Canteen Saloon
at the northwest corner of Second and C Streets. Hastening, with a citizen,
to the swinging doors of the place, Heenan observed that a hold-up was
being enacted. Bolting through the doors, without seeming to realize the
seriousness of the situation, he came face to face with the robber. In a flash
the man fired a shot into the officer's breast, killing him almost instantly.
The murderer lost no time. He was seen to hasten along the north side
of Second Street to Elm, where he changed his course up that narrow street ;
and although citizens at once took up the trail, he covered his tracks com-
pletely. Many explanations have been made as to how he got away, but
none has been accepted as the correct one.
Joe "Silver" Kelly, alias Con Connelly, is wanted for this crime. There
is a reward of $800 on his head, $300 of which was offered immediately by
the owner of the Canteen Saloon, and the remainder by the city council.
The fact that Kelly was in Marysville on the day preceding the night of the
murder, and could not be found after the shooting, convinced Chief of Police
C. A. Smith and Sheriff McCoy that he was the murderer of Heenan. Circu-
122 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
lars have been sent to all parts of the world giving Kelly's description, and
heralding the reward, but so far to no avail.
In the" early days, an officer named "Butch" Dobler was killed by a
Mexican near the spot where Officer Heenan was murdered. In this instance,
also, the murderer made a successful get-away.
CHAPTER XI
COURTS AND BAR OF YUBA COUNTY
THE WHIPPING-POST IN YUBA COUNTY
At one time in Marysville the whipping-post promised to become a
steady means of meeting the minor crimes. In the Register of Suits, a
very interesting volume, used by the first alcalde of Marysville, Stephen J.
Field, and still preserved with the Yuba Count}- records, pages 112-117, the
following is found :
"In the case of the People of the State of California against Frederick
Burcholder and John Barrett, the jury found the defendant Barrett guilty
of stealing a tin box containing about sixty dollars' worth of gold dust and
a gold dust bag containing a quantity of gold dust of the value of from
twelve to fifteen hundred dollars. The judgment of the court was :
"Therefore, it is ordered that the said defendant, John Barrett, be
taken from this place to Johnson's ranch (the place where the theft was
committed), and there receive on his bare back within twenty -four hours
from this time fifty lashes well laid on; and within forty-eight hours from
this time fifty additional lashes well laid on ; and within three days from
this time fifty additional lashes well laid on; and within four days from
date fifty additional lashes well laid on ; and within five days from date fifty
additional lashes well laid on. But it is ordered that the four last punish-
ments be remitted provided the said defendant make in the meantime resti-
tution of the said gold dust bag and its contents. The Sheriff is ordered to
execute this judgment. Witness my hand and seal this seventh day of
April, 1850. Stephen J. Field, First Alcalde of Marysville."
Under date of the 8th of April the record adds : "The sentence executed
by the infliction of twenty lashes, after receiving which he confessed the
theft of the bag containing from twelve to fifteen hundred dollars in gold
dust and made restitution of the same."
Directory Account of a Whipping-post Case
The City Directory of 1856 also interestingly describes how, as early
as 1850. the whipping-post had to be resorted to. In the month of April,
the town was thrown into a state of excitement by a daring burglary, com-
mitted at^the Sutter House, conducted by John Gildersleeve. A truck con-
taining $700 in gold dust had been robbed, and the perpetrators had fled.
The alcalde issued a warrant; and the robbers, two in number, were pur-
sued and captured by Sheriff Twitchell and posse. A grand jury was sum- '
moned in due form, and indictment was speedily returned, G.' N. Swezy
acting as prosecuting attorney. A petit jury was forthwith summoned; the
accused were tried, found guilty and sentenced to be whipped ; the sentence
was executed; and the culprits, who left town with their plunder at four
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 123
o'clock in the morning, left the same town at four o'clock in the afternoon of
the same day with well-merited stripes. The absence of secure jails, or other
places of confinement, rendered this mode of punishment unavoidable, unless
crime was to be allowed to go unchecked.
THE CODE OF HONOR
The code of honor was frequently resorted to as a method of healing
wounded feelings in the early days of Yuba County, but the practice soon
sank into decay. Many of the meetings were held so secretly, and the results
were so trifling, that the affairs never became generally known. Some, how-
ever, were subjects of general comment for a long time.
Near-Duel between Judges
Probably the most celebrated duel, or rather incipient duel, which ever
occurred in the county, was that between Judges Stephen J. Field and
AVilliam T. Barbour. The latter was judge of the Tenth District Court, and
in some manner a feeling of enmity sprang up between the two jurists. This
spirit led to innumerable little squabbles and nearly culminated seriously.
George C. Gorham wrote a criticism on Judge Barbour and handed it to
O. P. Stidger, editor of the Herald, for publication. The same day, as Judge
Field was proceeding to his office, with his arms full of books, he was
assaulted by Judge Barbour, who claimed that his opponent had caused the
publication of the offensive article.
The parties being separated, by some diplomatic efforts Judge Barbour
was forced to send the challenge. This left Judge Field with the privilege
of selecting the weapons and the manner of meeting. It was at first proposed
to fight with knives in a dark room, but Judge Barbour would not accede
to this, claiming that it was cruelty. Finally it was decided to have a meet-
ing with firearms, on the opposite side of Bear River. Charles S. Fairfax
acted as second for Judge Barbour, and Gordon N. Mott for Judge Field.
Although both parties appeared on the ground, an actual conflict was avoided.
Cause, a Woman
Early Tuesday morning, March 8, 1853, two men fought a duel near
the cemetery, in Marysville, with double-barrelled shotguns, loaded with
buckshot. One was wounded in the thigh, and had his left arm broken.
Cause, a woman. No notice was taken by the authorities.
Newspaper Men Mix
A duel occurred in 1853 in which Richard Rust, editor of the California
Express, challenged O. P. Stidger, editor of the Marysville Herald. They
met two miles below Yuba City, and used revolvers, firing at a distance of
ten paces. One shot was fired, and the bullet went through the coat of
Stidger. The cause was some articles appearing in the Herald criticizing
some in the Express, and the motives of the editor in publishing them.
Another Bloodless Duel
In 1854 a stranger in Camptonville was inveigled into a sham quarrel,
and as a result a duel was arranged. Two seconds were chosen and a sur-
geon appointed. The parties went to the grounds south of Camptonville.
When the stranger fired, his opponent fell and was immediately sprinkled
with red berry juice. The stranger, seeing him fall, and observing the red,
which he supposed to be blood, thought that a good place to get away from,
and no time so good as the present, and therefore broke for the wilderness.
Several months later his bones and clothes were found at the foot of a
precipice over which he had fallen in his fright, a distance of forty feet, and
been dashed to death. The body was accidentally discovered in the follow-
124 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
ing manner: A man named Blackburn had murdered a boy, George W.
Carothers, and fled in the direction the stranger had taken ; and while hunt-
ing for Blackburn, the citizens discovered the remains of the unfortunate
victim of their practical joke.
Turner-Howser Duel
Albert Turner and William Howser agreed to settle in an honorable
way, and adjourned to Sutter County, opposite the Yuba County Hospital,
for that purpose, June 10, 1858. The sheriff interfered, however, and they
started for Butte County, but finally returned to Marysville. They met
near the hospital the next morning, with seconds and surgeons, and had
five shots at each other, at a distance of fifty paces, with shotguns loaded
with ounce balls. At the last fire Howser was badly wounded in the right
arm. Howser was an uncle of S. C. Howser, of the present police force.
Last on the County Records
The last resort to the "code honorable" was made by Thomas Burns
and John Davis, both of Marysville. They had a quarrel over some domestic
difficulties, in which Davis received severe chastisement. He challenged
Burns to the field of honor, and they fought a duel on January 8, 1871, a
few miles below Yuba City. Revolvers were used at thirty paces. After the
exchange of four harmless shots, the honor of these men was completely
satisfied and they retired from the field.
JUDICIAL ORGANIZATION
District Court
Under the California law of 1850, Yuba County was in the Eighth
Judicial District, and the first term of the court was commenced on June
3, 1850, by Hon. William R. Turner. The jurisdiction of this court was very
wide, including chancer)', civil and criminal. It had original jurisdiction
in all cases in equity, and its civil jurisdiction included all cases where the
amount exceeded $200, causes involving the title to real property or the
validity of any tax, and issues of fact joined in the Probate Court. It had
power to inquire into all criminal offenses by means of a grand jury, and
to try indictments found by that body. The first grand jury convened on
June 4, 1850.
In 1851 the legislature took from the court its criminal jurisdiction and
conferred this upon the Court of Sessions, leaving it the power of hearing
appeals from that court in criminal matters, and the power to try all indict-
ments for murder, manslaughter, arson, and other cases that could not be
tried in the Court of Sessions. At the same session the legislature formed
Yuba, Nevada and Sutter Counties into the Tenth Judicial District. In 1851
Hon. Gordon N. Mott was appointed by the Governor to fill the vacancy
caused by the removal of Hon. William R. Turner to another district.
In 1853 the Tenth Judicial District was changed by the legislature so
as to embrace Yuba, Nevada, Sutter and Sierra Counties. Again in 1857
an alteration was made, reducing the territory covered by the district to
Yuba and Sutter Counties. In 1863, the size of the district was again in-
creased to four counties, Yuba, Sutter, Colusa and Sierra. The legislature
in 1863 also raised the civil jurisdiction of the court from amounts over $200
to amounts over $300, gave it exclusive power to try indictments for treason,
misprision of treason, murder, and manslaughter.
Court of Sessions
The Court of Sessions was composed of the county judge as chief
justice, and two justices of the peace as associate justices, whose term of
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 125
office was one year, and who were elected annually by the justices of the
county, The first term was commenced on June 10, 1850. The duties of
this court included those now discharged by the board of supervisors. The
court continued to perform these duties until 1855, when the board of super-
visors was organized. In 1851, the power to inquire into criminal offenses
by means of a grand jury was transferred from the District Court to the
Court of Sessions. All criminal indictments were tried here, except for
murder, manslaughter and arson. In 1863, the Court of Sessions was abol-
ished by act of the legislature.
County Court
In this early period the County Court was held by the county judge,
whose term was fixed by the constitution at four years. Hon. Henry P.
Haun was elected by the people of Yuba County on the first Monday in
April, 1850, and opened the County Court on June 3, 1850. An appeal lay
to this court in civil cases from a justice of the peace and the Recorder's
Court. The business transacted by this court was at first necessarily small.
In 1860, the legislature made the jurisdiction of this court to embrace
cases of forcible entry and detainer. The Court of Sessions having been
abolished, criminal jurisdiction was also given to this court, with power
to try all indictments, except those for treason, misprision of treason, murder
and manslaughter, which indictments had to be certified to the District
Court for trial.
Probate Court
The county judge was also the judge of the Probate Court. The juris 1
diction of this court embraced all probate matters. Issues of fact joined here
were adjourned to the District Court for trial, or by agreement could be
tried in this court. Afterwards, by act of the legislature, the Probate Court
was given the power to summon juries and try issues of fact.
Recorder's, Mayor's and Police Courts
The charter by which the City of Marysville was incorporated in 1851
provided for a Recorder's Court to be held by the recorder of the city,
elected annually by the people. The first to fill this position was Gordon
N. Mott, elected in 1855. The jurisdiction of this court extended to the city
limits, and embraced the same civil and criminal powers as those possessed
by a justice of the peace. It also had exclusive jurisdiction of all violations
of a city ordinance, nuisances in the city, vagrancy, and disorderly conduct.
By the charter of 1855, the civil jurisdiction of this court was taken
away. The office of recorder was abolished by the legislature of 1862,
and a Mayor's Court was established. All powers of the recorder were
transferred to the mayor of the city, who held a new court.
By act of the legislature, the city was reincorporated in 1876, and the
Mayor's Court was changed to the Police Court, as it exists at present, with
the same powers as those possessed by the Mayor's Court. The police judge
thereafter was elected annually by the mayor and common council.
Justices of the Peace
By the law of 1850 the term of a justice of the peace was fixed at one
year. His jurisdiction extended to the limits of the township in which he
was elected. He had cognizance of actions on contract, for damages, and
to recover specific property when the amount or value did not exceed $200.
In 1851 the powers of the justice of the peace were considerably in-
creased. He had jurisdiction of actions to recover money for damages
to personal property, for fines, penalties and forfeitures, actions on bonds,
enforcement of lien on personal property, actions to recover personal prop-
126 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
erty, and judgments by confession, where the amount in all these cases
did not exceed $500, and on a bond taken by him, even if the amount did
exceed that sum ; also jurisdiction over cases of forcible entry and detainer,
and for the trial of the right in mining claims.
In the City of Marysville, the Police Court has cognizance of criminal
cases to the exclusion of the Justice's Court.
BAR OF YUBA COUNTY
Among Judge Field's associates at the Marysville bar during his resi-
dence in the city he helped to christen were : Richard S. Mesick, afterwards
district judge in Storey County, Nev. ; Charles H. Bryan, who died in Vir-
ginia City, Nev. ; Jesse O. Goodwin, afterwards Speaker of the Assembly,
district attorney, and State Senator; Gabriel N. Swezy, afterwards in both
branches of the legislature ; Gen. William Walker, the "grey-eyed man of
destiny," the foremost filibuster of the world ; John V. Berry, whom a drug-
gist poisoned by mistake; E. D. Wheeler, afterwards State Senator; T. B.
Reardon, who died in Oroville ; Isaac S. Belcher, later district judge, supreme
judge and Supreme Court commissioner; E. C. Marshall, later a member
of Congress and Attorney General ; and at least fifty others, including Charles
E. Filkins, Charles Lindley, Henry P. Haun, N. E. Whitesides, F. L. Hatch,
George Row r e, William C. Belcher, Charles E. De Long, afterward minister
to Japan, and Henry K. Mitchell, who became prominent in law and politics
in the State of Nevada.
The early bar of Yuba County had among its members men who later
gained national and State fame. We recall Judge I. S. Belcher, who was
made a Supreme Court commissioner, ranking with the judges of the State
Supreme Court under a provision of the new constitution adopted in 1884.
Judge Belcher had established a lucrative law business in Marysville in
partnership with his brother, W. C. Belcher ; and with the latter he later
established an office in San Francisco, where they were equally successful.
During the latter part of their career in Marysville, they had associated with
them another brother, E. A. Belcher.
Charles De Long was appointed minister to Japan by President U. S.
Grant, because of the brilliant record made by him in this section.
James G. ("Jim") Eastman became one of the leaders of the Los
Angeles bar, and was noted throughout the State for his eloquence and
wit. Eastman took a prominent part in bringing about the adoption of the
new State constitution.
L. J. Ashford had an office on Third Street. He spent his last days
on the orchard of his brother in Sutter County.
S. M. Bliss, who later served as district attorney of Yuba County, is
remembered as a very energetic man with an enviable record.
The same can be said of Frank B. Crane, who became district attorney
of Sutter County and superintendent of schools in Yuba County.
D. H. Cowden, another early-day lawyer, married a daughter of Peter
Van Fleet, who was made a Supreme Court commissioner when that body
was increased to five members in 1889. Mrs. Cowden, formerly Annie Van
Fleet, was a graduate of the Poston Seminary in Marysville.
Edwin A. Davis, who became judge of the Superior Court of Yuba
County, began his career as teacher in the schools of Camptonville, studied
law while serving as such, and opened his first office in Marysville.
Charles E. Filkins is remembered as a short, portly, dignified man, and
an able attorney. He seldom took a criminal case. He acquired a com-
petency and died in very comfortable circumstances. His home was at the
cornes of Seventh and D Streets, in the dwelling now occupied by Mrs.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 127
Marv Aaron. A daughter of Filkins became the wife of A. C. Bingham,
well-known banker in his lifetime. Another daughter, Jennie Filkins,
married C. P. Tubbs, of San Francisco.
Jesse O. Goodwin was very prominent in the early history of Yuba
County. He acquired a fortune. At one time he owned the vast acreage in
Sutter County that became the property of Berg Brothers. While he remained
a bachelor during his palmy days, shortly before his death he married Mary
Wadsworth, who became a celebrity as a singer. The ceremony took place
in San Francisco, while Goodwin was in declining health. During his resi-
ednce in Marysville, Goodwin had a narrow escape from death while riding
with Dr. R. H. McDaniel on the Feather River bridge. That structure was
then enclosed with a heavy framework. A runaway team entered the bridge
from the end opposite to which Dr. McDaniel and Goodwin had driven in.
Dr. McDaniel escaped without injury when the collision came, but Goodwin
received injuries which left him indisposed for a long time.
George C. Gorham, another early-day lawyer of Marysville, became
secretary of the United States Senate, through the efforts of his friend, Judge
Stephen J. Field, a position he held many years. He was distinguished as a
great orator. He was a brother of Charles M. Gorham, who "was made mayor
of Marysville.
Phil W. Keyser, who for many years held the position of judge of the
Superior Court of Yuba and Sutter Counties, while the two were in one
judicial district, was a very popular man in Marysville and Yuba City. He
gained prominence in the State and nation through his decision in the case of
Keys against the North Bloomfield Mining Company, which led to the famous
Sawyer decision estopping hydraulic mining, the detritus from which threat-
ened great damage to the valley counties.
Lloyd Magruder became county clerk in 1857, and was killed in 1863
by highwaymen in Washington Territory. He practiced here for many years,
and reared a family in Marysville.
R. H. McDaniel, brother of the present superior judge of Yuba County,
practiced in Marysville until his health failed. He died in 1868.
J. C. McQuaid, an uncle of C. E. McOuaid, present assessor of Sutter
County, also was a member of the Yuba County bar.
Zach Montgomery's name is inseparable from the early history of the
county. He attained State-wide fame as an orator and pleader. He became
prominent in the anti-debris litigation.
Gordon N. Mott was one of the judges of the county in the very early
days. He was a great friend of Judge Stephen J. Field, and was the father
of Rev. Edwin Marshall Mott, pastor of the Episcopal Church in Washing-
ton, D. C, to which charge the younger Mott was called through the influ-
ence of Judge Field.
William Singer, Sr., is remembered as a noted land lawyer, making his
start in Mary r sville. His son, William Singer, Jr., followed in his footsteps
and became chief counsel for the Southern Pacific Company in their land
department.
Gabriel N. Swezy was a noted and prominent citizen and leading lawyer
of Marysville in its early history. At one time he was greatly interested
in live stock. In every State and county fair his herds always were on dis-
play, especially his shorthorn cattle, to which strain he leaned. He built the
house still standing at the southeast corner of Seventh and D Streets. His
daughter, Mrs. Amelia Coult, was a highly respected and able teacher in the
Marysville schools in the eighties and nineties. Charles E. Swezy, land
attorney, who died recently in Sacramento, was a son of Gabriel Swezy\
128 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
William Walker brought the bar of Yuba County into prominence when
he became the leader of the famous filibustering party that invaded Central
America. His band captured a number of the citizens of Nicaragua, and
had it not been for Uncle Sam's gunboats, which took him into camp, he
would have accomplished his aim to become head of that country.
N. E. Whiteside was another of the successful lawyers of the com-
munity. His son, "Bo" Whiteside, was made a deputy sheriff by one of
the early-day sheriffs. "Bo" Whiteside is now an officer in Arizona. The
elder Whiteside married a Miss Vineyard, sister-in-law of Matt Woods,
early-day sheriff. He became famed as a great orator and wit.
Other early lawyers were B. W. Howser, who built up a splendid office
business, E. G. Fuller, and J. H. Craddock, who specialized in probate work.
In a later group of Marysville attorneys were M. C. Barney, W. G.
Murphy, C. L. Donohoe, C. J. Covillaud, C. A. Webb, E. P. McDaniel, Edwin
A. Forbes, and Wallace Dinsmore. Forbes became district attorney of the
county and later adjutant-general of the State of California. Donohoe
moved to Willows, Glenn County, where he still lives.
Still later accessions were Edward Tecumseh Manwell, who, while serv-
ing as district attorney, was killed by the I. W. AV.'s in the Wheatland hop-
riots, as is told in another chapter; M. T. Brittan, who also served as district
attorney, and died in 1922; W. S. Johnson, who died in the fall of 1 Q 23 ;
F. H. Greely, now serving as auditor and recorder; and Arthur H. Redington.
Present-day members of the Yuba County bar are : Richard Belcher,
W. H. Carlin, W. E. Davies, Arthur De Lorimier, F. A. Durvea, John E.
Ebert, Ray Manwell, R. R. Raish, W. P. Rich, E. B. Stanwood," Alvin Weis,
Charles A. AYetmore, and E. S. Norby.
CHAPTER XII
COUNTY OFFICIALS, PAST AND PRESENT
Judges and Justices
District Judges, 1850 to 1860: William R. Turner, Gordon N. Mott,
William T. Barbour.
1860 to 1879: S. M. Bliss, I. S. Belcher and Phil AY. Keyser.
County Judges, 1850 to 1860: Henry P. Haun, S. M." Bliss, Charles
Lindley, L. R. Sellon. and Charles Eindley (returned).
1860 to 1879: Charles E. Filkins, Jesse O. Goodwin, S. M. Bliss, and
L. R. Sellon.
Under the new constitution, beginning in 1879, Phil W. Keyser became
first Superior Court judge. Judge Keyser and his successor, Edwin A.
Davis, served Yuba and Sutter Counties jointly for many years. In Janu-
ary, 1903, Eugene P. McDaniel was advanced from the position of district
attorney and made the third superior judge of the county, which position he
holds at the present time. Judge McDaniel was first elected district
attorney in 1893.
Justices of the Peace: Samuel Garber is remembered as an early-dav
justice of the peace of Marysville Township. Garber was preceded in the
office by B. AY Howser, Marysville attorney. At the departure of Garber
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 129
for San Francisco, where he spent his remaining days, Isaac N. Aldrich
became justice of the peace. At one time the township had two justices,
Garber and Aldrich.
At Aldrich's death, James M. Morrissey succeeded to the position, which
he held for twenty-three years. He expired suddenly in his office in Decem-
ber, 1922, and was succeeded by the present incumbent, George F. Herzog.
who had been chosen in November, 1922, to succeed Judge Morrissey.
Constables serving in the Justice Court of Marysville Township during
these years are recalled as follows : Ezra E. Brow, C. C. Kelser, and Henry
Miehe. The present incumbent is Thomas J. Tyrrell, who also fills the posi-
tion of deputy sheriff.
District Attorneys
1850 to 1860: S. B. Mulford, H. P. Watkins, Jesse O. Goodwin, Charles
H. Brvan. G N. Swezy, L. Martin, T. B. Reardon, I. S. Belcher, and
F. L. Hatch.
1860 to 1870: George Rowe, F. J. McCann,- and R. R. Merrill.
1870 to 1880: AVilliam G. Murphy, E. W. Halloman, Edwin A. Davis,
and E. A. Forbes.
These were succeeded by the following: Eugene P. McDaniel, M. T.
Brittan, Fred H. Greely. Edward T. Manwell, E. B. Stanwood, and Ray
Manwell, the last named being now the incumbent.
Sheriffs and Coroners
Sheriffs, 1850 to 1860: R. B. Buchanan, Michael Gray, AVilliam R.
Thornburg, Matt AVoods.
1860 to 1870: Richard H. Hall, Herndon Barrett, L. D. Adkison, and
A. P. Spear.
Since 1870 the following have served in this office: Matt Woods, A. W.
Torry. Hank L. McCoy, who died August 5, 1885; S. E. Inlow, J. A. Saul,
Daniel P. Donahoe : R. E. Bevan, George H. Voss, Oscar E. Meek, and
Charles J. McCoy.
Coroners: S. T. Brewster, J. B. AVarfield, H. AV. Teed, Edward B.
Hand, E. Hamilton, A. P. Barnes, George M. Fronk, A. B. Hopkins, Dennis
Hayes, R. E. Bevan, John K. Kelly, and Frank T. Bevan.
Public Administrators
A. J. Gray, E. D. AVheeler, Seymour Pixley. B. F. Mann, James R.
\ r ance, Henry Eilerman, C. G. Hubbard, C. G. Bockius, AV. E. Eawrence,
Samuel Cummins, C. A. Stratton, Thomas C. Martin, Newton Seawell, J. P.
Scott, A. J. Cumberson, A. J. Batchelder, W. C. Shaffer, Patrick Brannan,
Joseph P. Arnoldy, AA^allace S. Durkee, F. E. Smith, and H. A. Niemeyer.
Members of the Board of Supervisors
Those who have served as members of the Yuba County Board of Super-
visors, representative of five districts, in the years since 1855, are: J. O.
Goodwin, A. O. Hyde, Herndon Barrett, Isaac Allen, Samuel Rideout, F. R.
Stryker, Charles G. Bockius, AA^illiam Buntin, Wilson T. AVoods, S. S.
Stinchicum, J. H. Beaman, H. G. Russell, F. L. Ande, AV. C. Campbell,
C. E. Stone, A. Cross, A. G. Hough, AV. AA r . Presbury, AAllliam Gregory,
R. H. Hall, G. S. Saunders, John AVhealdon, Byron AVhitcomb, John Lowery,
AVilliam Carpenter, L. D. Adkison, AV. H. Hartwell, Eli Teegarden, Martin
Knox, George AV. Mallory, D. A. McConnell, S. C. Hutchings, R. S. Jenkins,
N. D. Rideout, D. C. McGanney, A. DeCray, E. A. Harrington, John Stine-
man, J. H. Bowman, C. F. Brown, J. P. Brown, Fred Buttlemann, H. Lohse,
C. K. Dam. Joseph A. Flint, AVilliam Slingsby,< S. D. Wood, D. P. Derrick-
son, A. S. AVight, L. H. Babb, J. F. Flathman, B. F. Dam, Charles C. Duhain,
130 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
Tames Lowerv. John H. Beatty, Jr., G. W. Pine, James Malaley, W. T.
Ellis, Jr., S. H. Bradley, T. B. Hopkins, T. J. Arnold, James O. Rusbv.
T. M. Hawley, J. A. Saul, W. B. Atkisson, Louis Conrath, Hugh J. McGuire,
Lewis Wilder, A. C. Irwin, John Stineman, W. J. Mellon, W. B. Filcher,
W. M~. Jefferds, Fred Roberts, Phil J. Divver, David Morrison, A. G. Wheaton,
I. T- Casev, Harry E. Hyde, G. E. Nutt, William J. Forbes, Clarence E.
Swift, W. J. Mello'n. and Frank M. Booth.
County Assessors, Treasurers, and Tax-Collectors
County Assessors: S. C. Tompkins, Mix Smith, F. M. Davenport, Joel
D. Martin, John Rule, T. J. Sherwood, Newton Seawell, M. J. Crawford,
B. F. NewbeVry, H. C. Newberry, Lewis M. Wilder, W. B. Meek, and Thomas
E. Bevan. "Tom" Bevan has held the office since 1894, and is now the
oldest assessor in the State of California in point of service, if not in years.
County Treasurers : L. W. Taylor, George Rowe, John A. Paxton,
A. F. Williams, Samuel P. Wells, A. O. Hyde, A. C. Chapman, J. P. Brown,
W. H. Hartwell, J. R. Rideout, J. Fred Eastman, C. A. Stratton, W. T.
Ellis, E. C. Ross, W. W. Holland, George W. Pine, Thomas Fogarty, and
Harvey D. Eich.
County Tax Collectors : During the period between 1856 and 1868 the
office of county tax collector was independent of the county treasurer's office,
not combined with it as it is today. Those who served as tax collector during
that period were : C. N. Felton, L. B. Moore, John S. Love, Horace Beach,
and C. E. Stone. In the period between 1874 and 1880 these offices were
again combined, J. F. Eastman filling the place during all that time.
County Clerks and County Auditors and Recorders
County Clerks : E. D. Wheeler, Charles Lindley, E. Dorland, W. W.
Dobbins. Lloyd A. Magruder, William Sharkey. William T. O'Neale, E. M.
Ragan, D. E. Arnold, Barney Eilerman, Emerson E. Meek, Thomas J.
Sherwood, James K. Hare, Sid Reardon, Gordon Bowman, J. F. Eastman,
Phil J. Divver, and W. M. Strief. "
Auditors and Recorders : Alfred Lawton, E. D. AVheeler, Charles Lind-
ley, S. C. Tompkins, D. C. Berham, W. H. Wickersham, L. T. Crane, L. R.
Sellon, Barney Eilerman. John H. Krause, S. O. Gunning, C. N. Jenkins,
S. O. Gunning (returned), William P. Cramsie, and Fred H. Greely.
Other County Officials
Superintendents of Schools: Samuel P. Wells. J. M. Abbott, E. B.
Walsworth, W. C. Belcher, D. C. Stone, H. H. Rhees, Isaac Upham, A. A.
McAlister, T. H. Steel, Frank B. Crane, H. H. Folsom, James A. Scott, Jesse
E. Rich, William P. Cramsie, and Jennie Malaley. Miss" Malaley has the dis-
tinction of being the first woman to hold the position.
County Surveyors : James B. Cushing, W. W. O'Dwyer, D. B. Scott,
Joseph Johnstone, Nelson Wescoatt, R. P. Riddle, H. H. S'anford, Jason R.
Meek, James M. Doyle, Jason R. Meek (returned), L. B. Crook and Tason
R. Meek (returned at last election).
MARYSVILLE. AS THE CITY APPEARED IN 1854, FIVE YEARS FROM ITS FOUNDING
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 133
CHAPTER XIII
THE CITY OF MARYSVILLE
THE CHRISTENING OF THE CITY
The story of the christening of the city of Marysville is best told by
Stephen J. Field, who later was chosen first alcalde of the place. After
telling, in his memoirs of those early days, how he was attracted from his
home in New York by the report of the finding of gold in California, and how
he landed in San Francisco on December 28, 1849, with but ten dollars in his
pockets, seven of which went for cartage of his two trunks. Judge Field
describes his river trip to Vernon and his sudden determination to proceed
to Nye's Ranch instead.
Three or four hours after leaving Sacramento on the steamer Lawrence,
for Vernon, the captain suddenly cried out with great emphasis, "Stop
her! stop her!" and with some difficulty the boat escaped running into what
seemed to be a solitary house standing in a vast lake of water. Field asked
what place this was, and was told that it was Vernon — the town where he
had been advised to settle as a rising young lawyer. He turned to the cap-
tain and said he believed he would not put out his shingle just then at
Vernon, but would go further on.
The next place at which the boat stopped was Nicolaus ; and the follow-
ing" day the party landed at a place called Nye's Ranch, at the confluence of
the Feather and Yuba Rivers. No sooner had the vessel struck the landing
at Nye's Ranch than all the passengers, some forty or fifty in number, as if
moved by a common impulse, started for an old adobe building that stood
upon the bank of the river, and near which were numerous tents. Judging
by the number of these tents, Field concluded there were from 500 to 1000
people there. When the newcomers reached the adobe and entered the princi-
pal room, they saw a map spread out upon the counter, containing the plan
of a town, which was called "Yubaville," and a man standing behind it, cry-
ing out, "Gentlemen, put your names down ; put your names down, all. you
that want lots !" Field asked the price of the lots and was told that they
were "$250 each for lots 80 feet by 160 feet." Field then said, "But suppose
a man puts his name down and afterwards doesn't want the lots?" "Oh you
need not take them if you don't want them ; put your names down gentle-
men, you that want lots." Taking the man at his word, Field wrote his name,
subscribing for sixty-five lots, aggregating in all $16,250. This produced a
great sensation. While Field had but about $20 left of money he had raised
in San Francisco selling newspapers from New York at $1 each, it was imme-
diately noised about that a great capitalist had come up from San Francisco
to invest in lots in the rising town. The consequence was that the propri-
etors of the place waited upon Field and showed him great attention.
Two of the proprietors were French gentlemen, named Covillaud and
Sicard. They were delighted when they found Field could speak French, and
insisted upon showing him the townsite. It was a beautiful spot, surrounded
by live oaks that reminded the visitor of the oak parks in England, and the
neighborhood Field considered lovely. Field at once saw that the place, from
its position at the head of practical river navigation, was destined to become
134 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
an important depot for the neighboring mines, and that its natural beauty
and the salubrity of its climate would render it a pleasant place for residence.
Field, having handed Charles Covillaud, one of the proprietors, a copy of
a New York paper containing a notice of Field's departure for California and
wishing him God speed, the Frenchman, able to read English, saw and read
the article. He at once hunted up Field and said, "Ah Monsieur, you are the
Monsieur Field, the lawyer from New York, mentioned in the paper?" Field
meekly and modestly confessed, when Covillaud rejoined, "We must have a
deed drawn for our land."
Field made inquiries and found that the proprietors had purchased the
tract upon which the town was laid out, and several leagues of land adjoining,
of General — then Captain — John A. Sutter, but had not received a convey-
ance of the property. Field assured Covillaud he would draw the deed.
Immediately, a couple of vaqueros were dispatched for Captain Sutter, who
then lived at Hock Farm, six miles below the present site of Yuba City on
Feather River. When Sutter arrived, the deed was ready for signature. It
was for some leagues of land, a considerably larger tract than Field had ever
before aided in transferring. And when it was signed, there was no officer
to take the acknowledgement of the grantor, nor any office in which it could
be recorded, nearer than Sacramento.
Field at once suggested that in a place of such fine prospects, where
much business and many transactions in real property were likely, there
ought to be an officer to take acknowledgments and record deeds, and a mag-
istrate for the preservation of order and the settlement of disputes. It hap-
pened that a new house, the frame of which had been brought in by steamer,
was put up that day. It was suggested by Covillaud that the people of the
new settlement should meet there that evening and celebrate the execution
of the deed, and take into consideration the subject of organizing a town by
the election of magistrates.
When evening came, the house was filled. It is true it had no floor, but
the sides were boarded up and a roof was overhead, and seats of improvised
planks were ready for the assemblage. The proprietors sent around to the
tents for something to give cheer to the meeting, and, strange as it may seem,
they found two baskets of champagne. These they secured, and their con-
tents were joyously disposed of. When the wine was passed around, Field
was called upon for a speech. He started out by predicting in glowing
terms the prosperity of the new town, and referred to its advantageous situ-
ation on the Feather and Yuba Rivers. He told how it was the most acces-
sible point for vessels coming from San Francisco and Sacramento, and must
in time become the depot for all the trade with the northern mines. He
pronounced the auriferous region lying east of the Feather River and north of
the Yuba the finest and richest in the country, and said he felt certain that
its commerce must concentrate at the junction of the rivers. He impressed
upon the settlers the advisability of organizing and establishing a govern-
ment, and said the first thing to be done was to call an election and choose
magistrates and a town council. These remarks met with general favor,
and it was resolved that a public meeting should be held in front of the adobe
house the next morning, and that if this meeting approved the project, an
election should be held at once.
Accordingly, on the following morning, which was the 18th of January,
1850, a public meeting of the citizens was there held, and it was resolved thai
a town government should be established and that there should be elected
an ayuntamiento, or town council, a first and second alcalde, and a marshal.
The alcalde was a judicial officer under the Spanish and Mexican laws, having
a jurisdiction something like that of a justice of the peace. But in the anom-
MARY MURPHY COVILLAUD
After Whom Marysville Was Named
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 137
alous condition of affairs in California at that time, he assumed and exercised,
as a matter of necessity, very great powers.
The election ordered took place in the afternoon of the same day. Field
had modestly whispered to different persons at the meeting in the new house,
the night before, that his name was mentioned by his friends for the office
of alcalde. His nomination followed. But he was not to have the office
without a struggle. An opposition candidate appeared, and an exciting elec-
tion ensued. The main objection entered against Field was that he was a
newcomer. He had been in town only three days ; his opponent had been
there six days. Field won by nine votes.
On the evening of the election, there was a general gathering of people
at the adobe house, the principal building of the place, to hear the official
announcement of the result of the election. When this was made, some one
proposed that a name should be adopted for the new town. One man sug-
gested "Yubafield," because of its situation on the Yuba River ; and another.
"Yubaville," for the same reason. A third urged the name ''Circumdoro"
(surrounded with gold, as he translated the word), because there were mines
in every direction roundabout. But there was a fourth, a solid and substan-
tial old man, evidently of kindly domestic affections, who had come out to
California to better his fortune. He rose and remarked that there was an
American lady in the place, the wife of one of the proprietors ; that her name
was Mary, and that, in his opinion, her name ought to be given to the town,
and it should be called, in her honor, "Marysville." No sooner had he made
the suggestion than the meeting broke out into loud hurrahs ; every hat made
a circle around its ow r ner's head, and the new town was christened "Marys-
ville" without a dissenting voice. For a few days afterward, the town was
called Yubaville and Marysville ; but the latter name soon was generally
adopted, and the place has been so called ever since. The lady in whose
honor it was named was the late Mrs. Mary (M.urphy) Covillaud, wife of
Charles Covillaud, one of the founders of Yuba County. She was one of the
survivors of the Donner Party, which suffered so frightfully while crossing
the Sierra Nevadas in the winter of 1846-1847, and had been living - here ever
since that terrible time.
A Tribute to Marysville's Godmother
Through the courtesy of Mrs. Mary M. Fairfowl, of Eugene, Ore., the
editor is able to produce with this chapter a photograph of Mrs. Covillaud.
It is a likeness made by Mrs. Fairfowl, granddaughter of Mary Covillaud,
from a painting made by a French artist while the Covillauds were still
residing in Marysville. Mrs. Fairfowl is herself an artist of no mean ability.
We quote from the letter sent by her to the editor with the photograph :
"Since you are writing, a history of Marysville and Yuba County, may I
use this opportunity to correct a statement that is so often erroneously made,
namely, that Marysville was named for Mary Covillaud because she was the
first, or only, woman in Marysville at the time? This, I have been told by
those who know, and were there at the time, is not true. In fact, there were
many families living at the place that afterwards became Marysville, at the
time grandmother arrived.
"In a Marysville Appeal of the year 1871, the author of the 'Tetters
from Juanita' speaks incidentally of the naming of Marysville. He recalls
William G. Murphy and his sister, Mary Murphy, and adds, 'who became
the wife of Charles Covillaud on Christmas Day, 1848, and who subsequently
gave the name to your now famed city. I had the good fortune to become
acquainted with the lady, and, now that she slumbers in the grave, say that
never on the soil of California has a woman trod of a purer nature, more
138 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
amiable disposition, a more generous heart. When she went away from
earth, it was with the regret and lamentations of thousands.'
"And for those who love Marysville and the home, I feel they would
like to know that the one for whom Marysville was named was one of Cali-
fornia's first home-makers — 'shedding its quiet life far for those who else
were homeless.'
"And from all that I have, been told of her, she was one of California's
first social workers — but one, who made her home the center for all her good
works. And, although she had servants in her home, to send on her errands
of mercy, she always went herself to carry what was needed to the poor,
and with her own hands cared for and nursed the sick.
"And the books and pictures still in the family show that she found a
way, although cut off from civilization, to put art and science and the best
in "literature into her home. And her worn books on plant life show the
study she gave to her garden. And her garden, I have been told, was one
of the most beautiful in early California days. So this valiant little woman
overcame all difficulties to realize her vision of a wife, a mother, and of a
home. And I have always believed that her light shone on the type of men
who came to California in the early days."
The remains of Mrs. Covillaud now rest in the family plot in a Marys-
ville cemetery. Each Memorial Day the Native Daughters of the Golden
West, members of Marysville Parlor, place sweet flowers above her grave.
A Highly Prized Souvenir
A letter written by the late Chief Justice Stephen J. Field on July 17,
1880, from Washington, D. C, to Dr. R. H. McDaniel, father of the present
judge of the superior court of Yuba County, is in the possession of the Yuba
County jurist, and is highly prized, both because it bears the signature of
Judge Field and because it makes reference to the strong friendship that
"in the early days of Marysville existed between Judge Field and Dr. Mc-
Daniel. Dr. McDaniel did" not receive the letter, having died five days before
it was written, his death being unknown to Judge Field, who also has
answered the final summons. The letter reads as follows :
"Washington, D. C„ July 17, 1880.
"My dear Doctor :
"I have mailed to you today a copy of my little book entitled 'Personal
Reminiscences of Early Days in California.' This narrative was dictated
to a shorthand reporter in San Francisco in the summer of 1877; and it has
been put in print for the perusal of a few friends, not published. It is a
very meager account of what I saw, and of my experiences in Yuba County.
Had I at the time supposed it would ever be printed, I should have given
a much more extended history of men and things in Marysville. Another
year I shall probably issue a new edition, and shall then give a much more
full account of those whom I met and knew and loved in old Yuba. Among
other things, I wish to incorporate some incidents of yourself and of your
experience. At your early leisure please jot these down as they may occur
to you, so that when I visit your city in September next you may give me
your memoranda.
"I remember with gratitude your attentions to me during my fearful
sickness of 1856, and how, probably, to 3 r our attentions I am indebted more
than to those of any other one, that I passed safely through. I often think of
those days and of the many friends I had in Marysville. Please present my
kind regards to Mrs. McDaniel and believe me to be
"Very sincerely yours,
"Stephen J. Field."
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 139
AN EARLY ACCOUNT OF THE CITY
It will be interesting to observe, in passing, how the historian of other
days viewed the city of Marysville while it still was in swaddling clothes.
In the preface to the first directory ever printed of the new settlement, in
1853, a copy of which the compiler found in the possession of Steve C.
Howser, now a member of the Marysville police force, the following sketch
of the city is given :
"What is now known as the City of Marysville, three and a half years
ago was called Nye's Ranch. At that period but one tenement graced the
northern bank of the Yuba River. Its locality was near the site of the 'Ohio
House,' at the foot of D Street. It was an adobe structure, venerable and
antique, but doomed to fall in the great fire of August, 1851. With this
single exception, the plain upon which our city now stands was unadorned
by the hand of art, and uninhabited, save by the occupants of the castle and
the roving squads of idle and worthless Indians.
"Early in the winter of 1849 and 1850, the mountain trade began to
center at this point, the small boats engaged in freighting from the lower
cities finding this a natural and almost necessary terminus. The consequence
was, that large quantities of goods were soon deposited upon what is now
the Plaza, teams and packers came crowding in from the mountains, a brisk
and profitable trade sprung up, a hundred snow-white tents lent their charm
to the scene, and Nye's Ranch began to give promise of future importance.
"The proprietors of the ranch, Messrs. Sampson, Ramirez, Covillaud,
and Sicard, did not long remain blind to their own interests, nor to the signs
of the times, but as early as December conceived the idea of laying out a
city. A surveyor was accordingly procured, and the old ranch laid off into
lots, blocks and ranges ; and city lots were soon being sold and conveyed with
all the technical solemnity incident to the transfer of an English manor.
Earliest Form of Government
"Things being thus organized, large numbers of adventurers from below
daily landed upon our shores, pitched their tents, and commenced business.
But up to this period there was no government, no law, no officers of justice ;
and questions of interest and importance, involving the rights of citizens,
were constantly arising. Accordingly, on the 18th of January, 1850, an
election was held, at which some three hundred votes were cast. Stephen
J. Field, Esq., was duly elected chief judiciary of the realm, or in Spanish
parlance, alcalde. T. M. Twitchell was elected sheriff, but for some reason
declined serving, whereupon R. B. Buchanan was appointed in his place. A
common council also was elected. Mr. Field soon after received a com-
mission from the governor, qualified, and commenced the administration of
law and justice in an able and satisfactory manner, as the records of his pro-
ceedings, now reposing in the archives of the county, will abundantly testify.
"The wheels of government being thus set in motion by the popular will,
the oil of a liberal fee bill preserved the machinery, and everything connected
with the growth and prosperity of our city moved forward with unparalleled
success. A thousand avenues to wealth opened before us ; trade increased
with a rapidity hitherto unknown ; steamers daily visited our landings ; build-
ings arose on every street and corner ; hotels were furnished and opened ;
saloons were erected and richly ornamented ; and every feature of the young
city assumed the aspect of thrift and enterprise.
First County Election
"Thus matters progressed till the first Monday in April, when, pursuant
to an act of the legislature, an election was held for county officers. A
swarm of candidates, irrespective of politics, took the field ; and after a warm
140 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
though good-natured contest, the following named gentlemen were elected:
County judge, H. P. Haun ; count}' attorney, S. B. Mulford ; county clerk,
E. D. Wheeler; sheriff, R. B. Buchanan; county recorder, Alfred Lawton;
county surveyor, J. B. Cushing; county treasurer, U. W. Taylor; county
assessor, S. C. Tompkins ; coroner, S. T. Brewster. At this election about
800 votes were cast in Marysville.
New City Incorporated
"During the summer of 1850 improvements in town were moderate,
many feeling undecided as to which of the up-river towns would be 'the
place.' The following winter was extremely dull — money scarce, and real
estate very much depressed. Notwithstanding these unfavorable signs, a
bill, during the winter, passed the legislature, incorporating the 'City of
Marysville,' dividing it into four wards, and authorizing an election on the
first Monday of March, 1851, for mayor and eight aldermen. The election
resulted in the following choice : For mayor, S. M. Miles ; aldermen, Messrs.
Ransom, Stambaugh, Shaeffer, Tallman, Smith, Rice, Covillaud, and Tomp-
kins. AVith the return of spring, and the establishment of a regular muni-
cipal government, a new and cheering era dawned upon the City of Marys-
ville. Business, in all its phases, revived ; and improvements of a durable
nature began to be made. And since that period our city has progressed
with a firm, healthy step, constantly increasing in wealth, population and
beauty. The river bed has been cleared of obstructions, so that steamers
visit us every day in the year. Our population now numbers nearly ten
thousand. The canvas tent of 1849 and 1850 has retired, to give room for
elegant brick structures which now adorn every portion of our city, giving
pleasing and substantia! evidence of our prosperity, Mills, iron works,
machine shops and manufactories are established to supply the wants of the
community; churches and schools to improve our education and morals; and
charitable institutions to gladden the hearts and ameliorate the condition of
the unfortunate among us. Two daily newspapers are published, which
contain all the important news, both foreign and at home.
"Thus do we stand before the world, three years having changed the
wilderness to a city; and. considering our commercial advantages, our beds
of gold, our lofty mountain forests and broad, productive fields, we certainly
can, without exaggeration, indulge the brightest hopes for the future great-
ness of our beloved Marysville."
In the days when the above was written, Marysville and Yuba City were
connected up with a toll-bridge built by Bryan & Saunders at a cost of
$20,000. It was the crossing for those going to the valley points below
Marysville by Knight's Ferry, and also for those going to Shasta, Trinity
Diggings and Oregon. The bridge was located near the west end of Third
Street and crossed the Feather River to the central and business part of Yuba
City. _ G. M. Hanson, who collected the toll, had a charter on the bridge
covering twenty years. The bridge was over 500 feet long, and was thirty-
five feet above low-water mark and six feet above highest water mark.
THE BAPTISM OF FIRE
Marysville's First Fire
Through the courtesy of Mrs. Carolyn E. Hamilton, of Rockford, III,
there will be added to the archives of the historical room of the Packard Free
Library here a well-preserved lithograph picturing the first disastrous con-
flagration ever to visit Marysville— on the night of August 30, 1851.
Mrs. Hamilton, writing to City Clerk E. B. Stanwood a letter donating
the lithograph, explains that she never lived in Marysville; that she dis-
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 141
covered the lithograph in a second-hand store in Rockford and realizing its
historical value, determined to present it to the city of Marysville.
In the lower left-hand corner beneath the lithograph is written the
words : "From Hiram Hattley to Lucinda S. Hattley," giving the impression
that the donor lived in Marysville at the date of the fire, when Marysville
was scarcely two years old, and that Hattley mailed the lithograph to a
relative in the East. The earliest history of Marysville published refers to
the disastrous fire as follows :
"The first baptism of fire occurred on Saturday night, August 30, 1851.
The blaze originated in a Chinese wash-house on High Street, and spread
with the utmost rapidity. The buildings were chiefly of board and canvas,
and so dry had they become in the long heat of summer that in an almost
incredibly short space of time three blocks of them were burning fiercely.
"The people were panic-stricken. There was no organization to combat
the flames, and no one had authority as leader. The citizens, however,
manfully disputed the advance of the destroyer, and in two hours succeeded
in subduing the flames. The district burned was included between D, Sec-
ond, E and First Streets, the Plaza, and the Yuba River. The flames were
prevented from crossing D Street to the east by hanging blankets over the
fronts of the buildings and keeping them thoroughly wet.
"The buildings burned, eighty in number, were in the chief business
portion of the city, and the loss was estimated at about $500,000. The old
adobe building at the foot of D Street, the first ever to be erected in Marys-
ville, and which was serving as a jail, was among those lost. The next day
new buildings were commenced, and soon the whole territory was again
alive with business. The widespread destruction awakened the citizens to a
realization of their unprotected state and turned their thoughts to the organ-
ization of a fire department."
The lithograph shows the old-time bucket fire brigade at work.
Other Early Fires
Ten days later the citizens had again to contend with the enemy. At
one o'clock Wednesday morning, September 10, 1851, flames were seen issu-
ing from the rear of the wholesale liquor store of Mitchell & Nunes, on the
south side of First Street, east of D Street. In half an hour twenty-five
buildings, situated between D and First Streets, Oak Street (then Maiden
Lane), and the river were in ruins. Water carts were used to convey water
to the scene of the conflict, and this was thrown upon the burning buildings
by the excited citizens. The estimated loss was $80,000.
The origin of these two earliest fires was doubtful, although they were
generally supposed to have been the work of incendiaries. Steps were im-
mediately taken to form a fire department, which resulted in the organization
of Mutual Hook & Ladder Company No. 1, on the 18th of September.
At one o'clock in the afternoon of January 23, 1852, a fire broke out in
the American Hotel in Maiden Lane (now Oak Street). The new fire com-
pany responded promptly to the call to duty, with their hook-and-ladder
apparatus, and soon extinguished the flames. Again a small fire occurred
on Thursday afternoon, February 19, 1852, in a vacant building on High
Street. This fire was also subdued before much damage was done. Thus,
by the organization of this company, the city was happily saved from what
might, in both cases, have been disastrous conflagrations.
The year 1854 was a noted one in the fire annals of the city, no less
than three fires occurring, two of them being very destructive. On May 25,
1854, a fire was discovered in the Mansion House on the east side of D Street,
between Second and Third Streets. The Eureka Hand Engine Company
142 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
and the Mutual Hook & Ladder Company were quickly oh the spot, and
worked energetically for nearly two hours in their endeavor to arrest the
course of the devouring element. The block bounded by D Street, Maiden
Lane, Second and Third Streets, was all reduced to ruins, except the Empire
Block, which still stands. The flames there crossed D Street and fastened
themselves on the theater and courthouse, formerly the old St. Charles Hotel,
and with but few exceptions destroyed the entire block between Second,
Third, D and High Streets. Then they leaped over Third Street and made
some progress north, reducing to ashes the Presbyterian Church and a num-
ber of dwellings between Third and Fourth Streets. Here their progress was
finally arrested and the fire extinguished. The loss sustained in this blaze
was estimated at $158,550.
The second conflagration of the year was still more extensive and
disastrous. A fire originated in a Chinese house on the corner of Second
Street and Virgin Alley about ten p. m., on July 18; and, although it was
subdued in fifty minutes, so fiercely did it burn, that five squares, comprising
over 200 buildings, were swept away. A high wind prevailed, and spread the
flames so rapidly that it was only with the utmost exertions of the small
fire department, aided by the citizens, that they were subdued. The bound-
aries of the district burned extended from the corner of B and Second Streets
to the corner of B and Fourth Streets, down Fourth Street to C, north to
Fifth Street, west to D Street, down D Street to Second Street, and then east
to B Street. It will be observed that the area destroyed covered some of
the territory burned over by the fire in May, which had been largely rebuilt.
The Tremont House and City Hall were included in the loss, which footed
up the immense sum of $250, 000.
The third blaze in 1854 occurred at midnight, October 22. and originated
in an unoccupied house on B Street, between First and Second Streets.
Eleven houses were consumed, valued at $11,000.
The city was then free from any disastrous conflagrations until 1856,
when another of the old-time visitations is recorded. In the month of
August, 1856, a blaze was discovered in a stable on F Street, between First
and Second Streets. The alarm was promptly sounded ; and the whole fire
department, consisting of three hand engines and the hook and ladder com-
pany, responded. As the fire was on the river bank, two of the engines were
placed on the ferry-boat for convenience in working ; but the clumsy craft
sank with its precious burden, and the fire raged on. The balance of the
department, with the active assistance of the citizens, finally subdued the
flames, after they had consumed about $145,000 worth of property. The
burned district was in the heaviest business locality, and the loss was great
in proportion. It extended along First Street to the Merchants' Hotel, then
up Commercial Alley, and on the south side of the Plaza.
At 3:30 a. m., November 17, 1864, fire was discovered in the rear of a
clothing store under the old brick theater on D Street, between Second and
Third Streets. The spread of the flames to any extent was prevented ; but
the theater, with the stores under it, was entirely destroyed. The loss was
estimated at $40,000.
The next noted blaze occurred on July 17, 1871. A fire originated at
noon in Swain's sash factory on Fourth Street and spread toward the north.
The whole block lying between D, C, Fourth, and Fifth Streets was des-
troyed, with the exception of the Presbyterian Church and a few dwellings.
W. C. Swain's factory, John Pefrer's factory, and Harrington's factory were
all consumed. The loss was about $80,000.
About half past eleven o'clock on Sunday night, September 7, 1879, fire
was discovered in the store of E. C. Ross & Company on D Street. A general
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 143
alarm was sounded, and soon the whole fire department was on hand with
the three steamers. The fire had made so much progress, however, that the
firemen were unable to extinguish it until it had burned the stores of E. C.
Ross & Company and N. D. Popert, and two houses on High Street. The
loss was about $50,000, besides the damage to goods removed from stores
in danger of being consumed.
The Fire at the Southern Pacific Freight Sheds
In the same year the greater portion of the freight sheds and platform
of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company at Sixth and A Streets was wiped
out by fire, together with much additional property. Starting in the freight
shed at the north end of the unloading platform, the blaze spread to box
cars standing on the sidings, thence to the Denton House, a two-story brick
building on the west side of A Street, that occupied the lots where the
Fourth Ward House now stands. The Denton House was completely razed,
together with three saloons that stood to the south of Denton's store and
saloon, which were located on the ground floor of his building. The loss
was estimated at almost $100,000.
Fire and Flood Combine
On September 19, 1887, a large hole was burned out of the heart of the
business section of Marysville. About 12:20 a. m.. Police Officer John Col-
ford discovered what appeared to him to be but a bundle of shakes burning
in the driveway of the Union Lumber Company's yard, which then was
located at the southwest corner of Fourth and C Streets. Before Colford
could summon the fire department, the lumber yard, which covered the space
now occupied by the Marysville Water Company's attractive park, was a
seething mass. Despite the work of the fire laddies, the flames crossed the
alley now known as Oak Street and ignited a frame barn on the west side
filled with hay, and also a dwelling occupied by Mrs. Wiscotschill and her
daughter. Soon the fire was carried by the night wind to the row of then
frame structures occupied by Joseph Brass as a grocery and tobacco store,
the shoe shop of Joseph Bowen, the office of George Merritt, the tailor shop
of H. Voss, and the fruit stand of William Hoffart. At the same time the
fire attacked the Louvre Saloon, the Ben Bigelow gun store, and B. F.
Oilman's Red House. These, like the frame stores to the north, were gutted,
and the Meyer bakery and the stores of Kertchem & Corley, both in the Odd
Fellows' Building, were threatened. At the north end of the block, the flames
ate into the water works building and destroyed the underpinning of the
large tanks carrying the water with which the fire was being fought. In a
short time the tanks collapsed with a roar, spilling their waters into D Street,
where they were almost knee-deep.
Anticipating the loss of the tanks, L. C. Williams, who was both engi-
neer of the fire department and chief engineer for the water company, had
arranged, an hour before, to pump water for the fire from the company's
wells directly into the mains. The engine house on the east side of the water
plant was then threatened. Although the heat became almost unbearable,
and wet sacks had to be thrown oyer him by citizens as he worked, John
Colford, Jr., assistant engineer, stayed at his post and fed wood into the
furnaces, that the water-works engines might be kept going. For his heroic
work that night Colford was later presented with a gold watch and chain by
the citizens of Marysville.
The loss in this fire was $165,000. In less than a month the owners of
the buildings destroyed had let contracts to have them rebuilt, and in more
substantial form. On March 1, 1888, Joseph Brass moved into his new two-
144 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
story brick structure. Soon after, the water company purchased the lots
to the north of the Brass Block and placed one-story brick structures on
them. All the other buildings to the south were also rapidly restored.
It was the fourth fire to take place within five weeks on Monday morn-
ings at the same hour, and the citizens then were convinced that a firebug
was at work in the city. In a short time their suspicions were verified ; for
several weeks later, on Monday morning, the large Denton barn at Seventh
and A Streets, filled with hay, was found ablaze. Running from it, one Jack
Hayes was encountered by citizens. Hayes had formerly been a drayman
tor "the Buckeye Mills Company. He was arrested, and confessed that he
was the firebug. His reason for his crime was that he had become dis-
couraged, and vexed at the world, because of injuries which he received in
falling from the roof of the Buckeye flour mills, and from the results of which
he was left a cripple for life.
Frost & Shaffer Fire
The next fire of large proportions occurred on the morning of July 5,
1888. Shortly after midnight, and while Fourth of July celebrants were yet
discharging fireworks, the blaze" was discovered in the packing room of Frost
& Shaffer in the Ellis Block. A skyrocket falling through the skylight of
the building was blamed for this conflagration. The flames, fanned by a
strong wind from the south, crept to the rear and crossed High Street to the
stables of W. T. Ellis and J. R. Garrett, and at the same time to the north
end of the block, taking in its course the buildings then owned by C. J.
Ripley. The barley rooms of W. T. Ellis, to the south, also were threatened.
Besides Ripley, Ellis and Garrett, other losers in the fire were the Marysville
Savings Bank, F. W. H. Aaron, C. A. Glidden, and all the tenants on the
upper floors of the structure who were occupants of lodgings. After the
fire, W. T. Ellis purchased the interests of all owners in this block, and has
since owned it in its entirety. It is now the property of his estate, which is
managed by his son, W. T. Ellis. Jr.
Later Fires
On July 16, 1890, the building at Second and Elm Streets, occupied by.
the Union Soda Works, was found in flames at an early morning hour.
Firemen working in the building discovered the remains of George Ball,
driver for the concern, and a highly esteemed citizen. Examination of the
remains and of the premises showed that he had been murdered for money
supposed to be in the building, and the building ignited to cover up the
crime. As related in another chapter, his slayers were captured. One died
in the county jail while awaiting trial. The other was sent to the peniten-
tiary. A third accomplice, who was said to have planned the deed, was
killed in Stockton.
In a fire occurring on October 11, 1895, the city lost its only fruit-pack-
ing plant of that time, located at the corner of Twelfth and E Streets, and
conducted by R. W. Skinner, now a Sutter County grower. A loss of $32,000
was sustained in this fire.
On December 19 of the same year, the Empire Foundry & Harvester
Works, at Fifth and F Streets, went up in smoke with a loss of $20,000. This
was another blow to the city's industrial life.
Twenty-eight horses, including a noted racer, owned by Daniel Morgan,
were burned in a fire that destroyed the New York Stables on Second Street,
between C and Oak Streets, on September 15, 1896.
On July 6, 1898, the stable at Second and High Streets, built by Henry
Elmore, who had formerly occupied the New York Stables, was also des-
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 145
troyed, together with the warehouses of W. T. Ellis and White, Cooley &
Cutts. located at the rear.
On September 26, 1900, occurred the burning of the Marysville Brewer)'
at Ninth and B Streets, owned by M. Reisinger. The same year the stable of
Daniel McCrate, on High Street, between Second and Third, was destroyed.
Esteemed Youth Loses Life
Frank Peck, aged nineteen, son of County Surveyor and Mrs. W. F.
Peck of Yuba City, Sutter County, lost his life, and the Marysville Woolen
Mills- Company sustained a loss of $150,000, in a fire that consumed the
woolen mills plant, at the southeast corner of Second and B Streets, on Friday
evening, March 10, 1899. Young Peck followed the hosemen into the blazing
lower story of the mill, was blinded by the heavy smoke, became confused
when he sought an exit, and succumbed to the terrific heat and to suffoca-
tion. His remains were found the following Sunday, after relatives and
friends had hoped in vain that those who reported the young man at the
scene of the fire were mistaken. He was a graduate of the Marysville High
School, class of 1898, and at the time of his death held the State champion-
ship amateur mile bicycle record.
In this fire Marysville lost its largest manufacturing establishment.
The blaze was found at eight o'clock in the evening, and did not at first
cause much concern ; but soon the flames crept into the upper portion of the
mill, putting the entire plant beyond saving. Both the south and east walls
fell into the ruins. Only a portion of the old engine room at the south of the
structure was saved. The insurance companies paid $75,000 toward the loss.
Burning of the Old Theater Building
In June, 1903, Marysville lost its old-time theater building. The fire
started in the planing mill of Swain & Hudson on the south, and ate through
a window in the wall dividing the planing mill and the show-house.
Out of this fire grew the present Atkins Theater, on the site of the old
planing mill, and the Elks Home, on the lot where the old theater stood.
Fire Chief Loses Life
Loss of life, including that of Fire Chief Joseph J. Bradley and other
members of the fire department, accompanied a fire that broke out in the
tin shop of White, Cooley & Cutts on High Street, December 18, 1906.
Ignorant of the fact that a shipment of dynamite had temporarily been
stored in the tin shop, the firemen worked on both the High Street and E
Street sides of the burning building. Chief Bradley was directing the men at
the nozzle on the E Street side when the dynamite exploded with a deafening
roar. Bradley's body was pierced by fragments of metal and other foreign
substances. He died in about a week from the wounds, which were con-
sidered fatal from the start. R. Moran, volunteer fire-fighter, lost a leg and
died in a few days from the shock. Others who were injured, including
firemen and citizens, were Harry Wyrick, Charles Onyett, John Mock, Jack
Darniele, Bert Rathburn, F. E. Smith, John Thomas, F. Hughes, Viola
Shaffer, Mrs. Earl Hall, H. A. Niemeyer, present public administrator, Walter
Edeler, Al Driscoll, Clark Matson, L. H. Richards, Frank Williams, George
Baird, Albert Lewek, Espie White, F. Cunningham, W. S. Kirk, and two
Chinamen and three Japanese. Several lawsuits were brought against the
firm of White, Cooley & Cutts, and judgments were rendered for the injured.
Destruction of the Binet Row
The Binet Row, frame dwellings on B Street near Seventh, fed one of
the hottest fires in the city's history. This fire took place on July 21, 1908,
and wiped out the row, spreading also to the homes of Mrs. Susan Sheer.
146 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
M. Schwab, Kate A. Murray, Mary Santry, Mrs. J. Lockhart, John Galligan,
and Mrs. A. Lynn, all of which were destroyed. The old grammar-school
building on the north side of Seventh Street suffered damage in the sum of
$1000. Morgan J. Williams, E. J. Goodpastor, Mrs. J. F. Keane, P. J. Binet,
W. C. Poole, and A. L. Poole, tenants, lost most of their effects.
Other Fires
On November 4, 1908, a fire that started in the delicatessen department
of the W.'T. Ellis grocery store did $15,000 damage.
On April 7, 1909, the Yuba County Hospital had a narrow escape from
destruction ; and on November 14 of the same year the Peri Block on D
Street, between Third and Fourth, was destroyed with a loss of $75,000.
This fire was communicated to the stores of S. Ewell and the S. G. King
Company. The tenants in the Peri Block who lost heavily were F. S. Juch,
H. D. King, and F. B. Moor.
Other fires showing a heavy loss were those in the Marysville Steam
Laundry, on July 19, 1911; the Moran Packing Company, on August 15,
1912; the Kelly Brothers stable, on July 21, 1913; arid the Marysville Woolen
Mills, on January 17, 1918. In the Kelly Brothers fire, County Surveyor
Leslie B. Crook, who climbed into the hayloft to fight the fire, narrowly
escaped with his life. He was badly burned, and his life hung in the balance
for some time.
Biggest of All
For extent of territory covered, and for damage done, the fire of July 2,
1921, will always be remembered as the most thrilling and disastrous in the
history of the city, up to the present time. This fire started in the Pavilion
Stables at the northwest corner of Sixth and B Streets while the north wind
was raging at a velocity said to have been seventy miles an hour ; and in
less time than it takes to write it, a dozen fires were started from flying
sparks in the section bounded by Sixth, First, B and Yuba Streets. The oil-
soaked trestle of the Southern Pacific Company, extending from Fourth to
Second Street, carried the fire lightning-like through the doomed section,
scattering the blaze to both sides of A Street. Only the Front Street levee
stayed the flames, when there were no. other buildings for the fire to attack.
The loss in this fire amounted to $300,000. Boys shooting firecrackers
at the rear of the Pavilion Stables were blamed for this destructive con-
flagration. The burned section is gradually being built up again, for the most
part with residences and hotels.
MARYSVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT
The City's First Fire Company
The devastating, fires that visited the young city of Marysville in 1851
caused the question of a fire department to be seriously discussed. The
need of such a department was now very apparent, and the fact was con-
ceded by all that an organization of some kind, provided with suitable
apparatus for fighting the devouring element, was imperatively necessary
to protect the city from the frequent accidental and incendiary fires. With
vhis object in view, a number of citizens met on September 18, 1851, and
perfected the organization of a fire company, which was christened Mutual
Hook & Ladder Company, No. 1. At the inception of the movement, the
company was a purely independent organization ; but soon after, it was placed
under the control and patronage of the city authorities.
Other Early Companies
The names of the companies that followed in the wake of Mutual No. 1
were : Eureka Engine Company, No. 1 ; Yuba Engine Company, No. 2 ;
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 147
Eureka Hose Company, No. 1 ; Mutual Engine Company, No. 3 ; Yuba Hose
Company, No- 2 ; Mutual Hose Company, No. 3 ; Salamander Hook & Ladder
Company, No. 1 ; Warren Engine Company, No. 4 ; Pioneer Engine Com-
pany, No. 5 ; Protection Engine Company, No. 2 ; Pacific Engine Company,
No. 3 ; and Tiger Engine Company, No. 4.
Fraternity and Rivalry Among the Early Companies
Among firemen, especially in the volunteer departments, there always
has existed in a remarkable degree a fraternal feeling; and although, in the
hurry and heat of action, sharp rivalries and seeming animosities may spring
up, when the work is over, all such bitter spirit vanishes, and the members
of different organizations mingle together in the most amiable and harmoni-
ous social intercourse. This fraternal spirit goes beyond the limits of one
city, extending over miles of distance to meet a kindred feeling in the hearts
of firemen in other cities.
It was no different in early days. On Thanksgiving Day, November
27, 1851, an exhibition of this fraternal spirit was given on the occasion of a
visit by the Mutual Hook & Ladder Company, No. 1, of Sacramento, to the
Marysville Company. The guests were entertained at a grand banquet in
the evening, at which the mayor and prominent citizens were present. The
visitors returned to Sacramento the next day. This visit was subsequently
returned, and the Marysville company was received with great honors and
courtesies. On June 17. 1852, the Howard Engine Company of San Fran-
cisco visited Marysville. In the afternoon, after the procession, the members
of the fire companies, with invited guests, sat down to a banquet in the
Hotel du Commerce. The stay of the Howards was necessarily brief, and
they embarked at four o'clock on the Governor Dana for Sacramento.
These were but the first of many similar courtesies between the various
volunteer companies of Marysville and those of her sister cities. Frequent
balls, receptions, and parades were given, which were productive of much
enjoyment and pleasure. Not to be a member of the fire department was
in those days to be outside the pale of social activities.
Competitive trials were frequent, and great rivalry existed as to the
length of time required to make a run and get on a stream of water, and
especially as to the distance to which a stream could be thrown. At the
first State fair held in Marysville, in 1858, the Warren Engine Company,
No. 4, using a Hunneman tub hand engine, threw a stream of water 215 feet,
which was about thirteen feet farther than any of the rival companies' best
efforts. This company was but one of about twelve companies organized
in Marysville after the formation of Mutual Hook & Ladder Company, No. 1.
All of the rival companies were equipped with hand pumps, and were on an
equal footing, as regards equipment, in tests of skill and strength.
In 1862, however, the Eureka Company, aided by the city, purchased
in the East what was then considered the last word in fire-fighting apparatus.
In these days of powerful gasoline engines, the old-time steamer would
probably cut a poor figure ; but so great a bone of contention was the intro-
duction of the steamer in the ranks of the rival companies, that the common
council put an end to the constant bickering by ordering the other companies
to disband, leaving the Eureka Company alone in the field.
This condition of affairs existed for about a year, when it became
apparent that but one engine would not afford the rapidly growing city
adequate protection ; so the council permitted the formation of three addi-
tional engine companies, equipped, of course, with hand engines. This
arrangement proved satisfactory until 1872, when the council found it expedi-
ent to purchase another steamer. In 1876, a third steam engine was added
148 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
to the equipment, being the one that had been on exhibition at the Centennial
Exhibition. The first steam engine coming to this coast was shipped to
Marysville. It is now a permanent exhibit at Sutter's Fort, in Sacramento.
Personnel of the Department
Chief Engineers: During the fifties the following firemen filled the
position of chief engineer, in the order named : D. Buckley, P. H. Pierce, Jr.,
Charles Ball, A. W. Nightingill, and P. J. Welch, the latter serving until
1861. During the later sixties the following filled the position, in the order
named : W. P. Winkley, Jim B. Leaman. William Murphy, F. D. Hudson,
William C. Ogden, and D. H. Harney. The last-named served also during
the years 1870, 1872, 1873, and after a short lapse, from 1874 to 1878. In the
days since Harney (now deceased), who was the father of Horticultural
Commissioner George W. Harney of Yuba County, the position has been
filled by the following, in the order named: John Colford, Sr., L. C. Will-
iams, James O. Rusby, George B. Baldwin, Fred C. Meyers, B. B. Divver,
Clarence E. Rockefeller, Joseph J. Bradley, C. H. Hedges, William B. Meek.
In the past thirtv years death has removed many of the once valiant
fire-fighters of the city, among them Luther Gates, driver of the early-day
hpse-wagon ; William Gates, his son, an engine driver ; and the following
hosemen: Louis P. Knorsa, Jacob Knorsa, Edward Knorsa (brothers),
James Sullivan, Clinton Cunningham, Francis Heenan, Porter Andross,
Henry Hadlich, Jesse Rathburn, J. M. Morrissey, and Leo Haggerty. Fire
Chief Joseph J. Bradley ; C. J. Price, engineer ; Thomas Norman, assistant
engineer ; and Phil J. Divver, engineer, have also answered the final call.
Present Officers and Members : The officers and members of the depart-
ment in 1923 were: William B. Meek, chief; William Reilly, assistant chief;
Goya J. Rodriguez, captain of the house ; William H. Norman and Frank
Looze, engine drivers ; Lloyd Sligar, relief driver ; and the following ten
hosemen : Louis Anthony, John J. Barrett, Francis Johnson, Carl Syvertsen,
Edward Kneebone, Eugene Correll, Charles H. Rowe, Edwin Brow, James
Durkin, and E. H. Holmes.
Reminiscent of the fire-fighting days of 1854 in Marysville is a fireman's
certificate, yellow with age and worn, and yet well preserved considering
it was secreted for sixty-three years. This paper, resurrected five years ago
in the ruins of the pioneer town of Shasta, Shasta County, is now among
the effects of the late Judge James M. Morrissey, justice of the peace of
Marysville Township, who died suddenly in his office in December, 1922.
The certificate was found during a Grand Parlor session of the Native Sons
of the Golden West, held in Redding, Shasta County, in 1917. It reads:
"Marysville Fire Department. Fireman's Certificate.
"Office of Chief Engineer. Marysville, November 27, 1854.
"This certifies that George Schrater is a fireman of the City of Marys-
ville, attached to Eureka Hose Company, No. 1, he having been duly con-
firmed as such by the City Council on the 19th day of October, 1854.
"Signed, Charles Ball, Chief Engineer,
"G. E. Winter, Mayor,
"W. Wilsonsmith, City Clerk."
Improvements in Equipment
In the year 1917 the horse-drawn fire apparatus used for so many years
in the fire department was put away by the common council, at the urge of
the board of fire underwriters. In its stead were purchased a motor-driven
chemical and hose wagon and a motor-driven engine, at a cost of $15,000.
The old steam engines, two in number, are kept in reserve, giving to the
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 149
city what is thought to be adequate protection. The motor-driven engine
has a pump capacity of 1100 gallons per minute; the chemical-and-hose-
wagon engine, a capacity of 550 gallons a minute. At the present time the
department carries 3500 feet of 2j4-inch hose, and 600 feet of lJ/2-inch hose.
In the early part of the year 1923, the old City Hall fire-bell, which for
more than half a century had sounded the fire alarms and tolled many a
requiem, was lowered from the City Hall tower, and a siren substituted. A
general protest was sounded by the people, who had learned to love the old
bell because of the part it had taken in both their joys and their sorrows.
The protest grew so strong that at the end of a month the city council was
forced to replace the bell and dispense with the siren.
NEWSPAPERS OF THE CITY
The/ Marysville Herald
Marysville was laid out in December, 1849, and within five months
thereafter Col. R. H. Taylor, a San Francisco merchant of 1849, was so
favorably impressed with the future before the new city that he decided to
establish a paper here. As soon as he. could negotiate for a press and type,
he put his ideas into form, and on August 6, 1850, issued the first number of
the Marysville Herald, the pioneer journal of the city. At first the paper
appeared semi-weekly ; but so successful was it, that in October the editor
announced that he would in the future issue tri-weekly, only he should need
"more advertisements to help fill up." On January 28, 1851, Stephen C.
Massett, a talented young man from Sacramento, became interested with
Colonel Taylor, and the paper was then edited and published by Taylor &
Massett. On July 15, 1851, L. AY. Ransom purchased a one-third interest,
and the style of the firm was changed to Taylor, Massett & Company.
At its inception, the Herald was independent in politics ; but it soon fell
into the Whig ranks, where it did good work for some time. The impos-
sibility of procuring a sufficient quantity of white paper compelled the
publishers frequently to print their issue upon brown paper, or, as the editor
remarked, "do it up brown." A feature of this paper was a column of news
and opinions printed in the French language. In addition to its regular
issue, the Herald published a "steamer edition" a few days prior to the sailing
of each steamer for the East.
On August 8, 1853, the Herald was changed to an evening paper, issued
daily, and called the Daily Evening Herald. Again on January 9, 1854, it
was changed to a morning paper, and bore the name of the Marysville Daily
Herald. During the troubles in San Francisco in 1856, the Herald supported
the actions of the Vigilance Committee.
The California Express
The Herald was printed little more than a year before Marysville had
a second newspaper, the California Express, a full-fledged Democratic paper.
The first number was issued on November 3, 1851, by George Giles & Com-
pany, and edited by Col. Richard Rust. Following many changes in the
editorial and managing departments, we find the Express issued in 1861 by
the Express Printing Company.
The Express was from the first an exponent of pure, unadulterated
States' Rights Democracy, and during the long Civil War, was an earnest
advocate of the "Lost Cause," and the right of the Southern States to
secede from the Union. So distasteful did its course become to the loyal
citizens of Marysville, that it was several times threatened with destruc-
tion at their hands. The Express was ably edited, and had for contributors
some of the most talented men on the Coast. It was very successful and
150 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
influential until it adopted its policy in defense of the South. From this
time it began to decline, and in 1866 was compelled to succumb.
The Daily Inquirer
Although there already was one well-established Democratic paper in
the field, yet on November 1, 1855, J. DeMott & Company commenced the
issue of another, the Daily Inquirer. George C. Gorham, who later became
prominent in the community, wielded the editorial pen. The paper fell into
the hands of Oscar O. Ball the next year, who published it until December,
1857, when it ceased to exist.
During the two years of its existence the Inquirer was politically
Democratic, Neutral, Know-Nothing, and finally Democratic again.
The Weekly Spiritualist
The first number of the Weekly Spiritualist was issued in February,
1857, by L. W. Ransom, editor and publisher. It was an exponent of the
school of Andrew Jackson Davis' Harmonial Philosophy, and met with
such faint encouragement that it ceased publication the following May.
Marysville Daily News, and Daily National Democrat
The first issue of the Marysville Daily News, an independent paper,
made its appearance on January 9, 1858. The publishers were A. S. Randall
& Company. They purchased the Herald from L,. R. Lull & Company, and
the Daily Inquirer from Oscar O. Ball. The paper was placed under the
editorial charge of James Allen. On August 12, 1858, Allen sold his inter-
est to John R. Ridge, and the paper became the Daily National Democrat.
John R. Ridge, having retired from the California Express, purchased
an interest in the Daily News, and assumed the position of editor. The
News had been an independent paper ; but now it was changed to an advocate
of Douglas Democracy, and was issued on August 12, 1858, as the Daily
National Democrat. On April 23, 1861, Ridge retired and George C. Gorham
took editorial charge.
Although Democratic, the paper was thoroughly Union in its sentiment ;
and as there was another Union paper published in Marysville, the Appeal,
it was thought best for them to combine. Consequently, in October the
Democrat was merged in the Appeal, which appeared as a Republican organ.
The Daily and Weekly Appeal
The first number of the Daily Appeal appeared on January 23, 1860,
with H. B. Mighels as editor. It was issued by G. W. Bloor & Company,
and was independent in politics. B. P. Avery & Company purchased the
Appeal on June 5, 1860, and began issuing a thorough Republican paper,
Avery managing the editorial department. It began at this time to issue a
weekly edition.
On October 29, 1861, the Daily National Democrat was combined with
the Appeal. The paper was published by the Appeal Association, with
B. P. Avery as editor, and A. S. Randall as business manager. In 1862, C. V.
Dawson purchased an interest in the paper. Avery relinquished the editorial
duties in 1862 to A. S. Smith. In January, 1866, E. AY. Whitney became
manager, and was succeeded the following May by L. Barney Ayers, who is
still very well remembered in Marysville. On April 26, 1870, A. S. Smith
resigned the editorial chair to Frank AY. Gross, and in September of the same
year P. H. Warner became manager. In November, 1871, H. S. Hoblitzell,
who afterwards became city clerk and also police judge, assumed the man-
agement, which he resigned on August 13, 1873, to H. W. Haskell.
The Appeal has since passed through the hands of E. J. Lockwood and
C. D. Dawson, A. S. Smith, F. W. Johnson; E. A. Forbes, and V. M. Cassidy,
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 151
who moved to Marysville from Yuba City in 1922. In May, 1923, the Appeal
was taken over by James M. Cremin, former State printer and State statisti-
cian, who purchased from V. M. Cassidy.
The Marysville Daily Standard
When A. S. Smith retired from the editorial rooms of the Appeal, he
commenced the issue of an independent daily, called the Marysville Daily
Standard. The first few numbers, commencing on May 16, 1870, were
printed at the office of the Weekly Sutter Banner, while Smith was awaiting
the arrival of his printing material. On June 6, 1870, the Standard was
enlarged from a six-column to a seven-column paper. The Standard was
edited with vigor and ability for three years, when the material was sold to
the Appeal Association.
The Marysville Democrat
In 1883 the Marysville Democrat was established by a company made
up of Yuba County Democrats, who purchased shares in order that they
might have an organ of influence in the city and county for political purposes.
It is still in existence as Marysville's only evening paper, and is owned by
Arthur W. Gluckman, a Republican. The first editor was Milton McWhor-
ter, now deceased.
Since McWhorter's time, the paper has been owned by W. H. Phillips,
the Democrat Publishing Company, W. S. O'Brien, and Gluckman. T. J.
Sherwood edited the paper for a time. The late William M. Cutter was
editor of this paper for a number of years. L. A. P. Eichler is now editor.
EARLY INDUSTRIES AND BUSINESS FIRMS
Marysville Foundry
The first foundry and machine shop in Marysville was established in
1852 by Stombs, Daggett & Company, and was at first located at the corner
of A and Seventh Streets. The business increasing from the start, it became
necessary to move to larger quarters, and the corner of B and Fourth Streets
was chosen as the new location. The firm became known as the Marysville
Foundry. Under this name it was conducted by F. H. Booth and later by
Booth & Scheidel. I. G. Shepherd for many years was superintendent,
and Charles M. Gorham, manager. From thirty to fifty men were employed
in the machine shop and molding room, and in the yards. A specialty was
made of mining machinery, and the output was sent to Nevada, Arizona,
Utah, and Montana, and to many points in California. A few of the men
who were employed in this foundry in its latter days are still living in this
section, but it can be safely said they can now be counted on the fingers of
one hand. The foundry building was destroyed by fire in the conflagration
of July 2, 1921.
Empire Foundry
In 1870, H. B. Williamson and C. S. Cary established the Empire Foun-
dry, which still exists at the corner of Fifth and F Streets. John H. ("Jack")
Collins is the present owner. In 1878 the plant was sold to Richard Hoskin,
who for a time retained H. B. Williamson as superintendent. In the days
of hydraulic mining, the firm reaped a harvest in the manufacture of the mon-
itors used in that business in the mountains. Engine boilers and agricultural
implements also were turned out. The gang-plow American Chief, and
the Eittle Giant, a piece of hydraulic-mining machinery, were turned out
here. Some of the products went into South America and other foreign
countries. The Western States and Territories also proved a splendid field.
The Hoskin giants and deflectors helped spread the fame of the foundry,
which for a time became known as the Empire Foundry & Harvester Works.
152 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
Marysville Woolen Mills
Among the great industries of Yuba Count}- in the three and a half
decades following the year 1867, there were none that attracted more wide-
spread interest and proved of more importance than the manufacture '■ of
woolen goods. Among the manufacturing establishments in this part of
California, the Marysville Woolen Mills stood preeminent in their line.
It was in 1867 that the plant was established, with a capital stock of
$50,000. Located at the corner of Second and B Streets, for thirty years the
mill continued uninterrupted operations, until destroyed by fire in the year
1899. When rebuilt, the mill was constructed on a larger scale, being
equipped with the latest improved machinery operated by means of elec-
tricity. The late D. E. Knight, who gave to Marysville the race-track
grounds, now known as Knight Recreation Park, was for years the moving
spirit at the head of the concern. The trade, which was large, extended over
the Western and Northern States, Mexico and British Columbia, and finally
to London, England. Besides giving employment to many, the establish-
ment provided a home market for the wool-raisers of Yuba and Sutter Coun-
ties. It was an institution of which Marysville was justly proud; for its
blankets, underwear, and suit material became known both in Europe and
America. Toward the end of its career, after the death of D. E. Knight, the
establishment was owned by John Martin. A second fire left the mill in its
present ruined condition.
The Marysville Winery
Another establishment that flourished early in Marysville was the
Marysville Winery. At its zenith, none in the State enjoyed a higher repu-
tation for the excellence of its products. The business was established by a
stock company in 1872, and was purchased by the late Gottlieb Sieber in
1884. The distillery consisted of very substantial buildings equipped with
the latest improved continuous stills, with a capacity of 250, 000 gallons of
high-grade brandies and sweet and dry wines per year. Sieber was assisted
in the management of the concern by his son, Henry Sieber, now of Berke-
ley, Alameda County. Until it ceased operations in the late nineties, the
winery afforded a ready market to the grape-growers of the two counties.
Buckeye Flour Mills
An influential factor that contributed to the prosperity of the city of
Marysville, and of Yuba and Sutter Counties in general, in the days when the
farmers of the two counties depended chiefly upon grain-raising, was the
Buckeye Flour Mills at Fifth and Yuba Streets. The name of the late Justus
Greely, father of the present county auditor and recorder, Fred H. Greely,
was almost synonymous with the concern, at the head of which he stood for
years. During Mr. Greely's regime, shipment of Buckeye flour to China
began. The concern has since been absorbed by the Sperry Flour Company.
A Faithful Watchman
The Buckeye Flour Mills, and its successor, the Sperry Flour Company,
had about its properties for many years a well-known night watchman,
Samuel Harrington, whose death was only recently recorded. On August
9, 1893, during an encounter by night with a trespasser on the property of
his employers, Harrington was shot in the arm and disabled for some time.
Besides more substantial recognition as a reward for his faithfulness at all
times, the flour company gave Mr. Harrington favorable mention and ex-
tended tribute in a magazine published by the concern.
"Sam" Harrington had as his loyal companions during many a night his
well-trained dogs; and woe be to the intruder who ignored these faithful
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 153
animals when once their master commanded them to investigate an unusual
noise on the premises.
Trayner & Ellis Flour Mills
Just west of the depot of the Sacramento Northern passenger and freight
depot, in early days, stood the Trayner & Ellis Flour Mills. James Trayner,
long deceased, was the father of John H. Trayner of Gridley, and the grand-
father of James Trayner of this city.
This firm did a thriving business until their plant was ruined by a flood
of the early days, when they were forced to discontinue.
Early Carriage and Wagon Works
During the early days in Marysville there were several wagon-making
concerns. Among the owners of these were the following : George P. Hunt,
A. W. Cutts, Suber & Cutts, Charles Raish, Katzner, Russell & Chase,
Easton & White, S. H. Bradley & Co., W. C. Ogden & Sons, James Sneed
and A. M. Goff.
To Charles Raish, who commenced work in Marysville in 1853, belonged
the honor of making the first top buggy. This vehicle was made by him in
1854. and sold for $500.
A. AY. Cutts, who started a shop in 1851, built, in the summer of the next
year, the first wagon manufactured in the city. In the summer of 1851,
George P. Hunt had built two stages for John Adrient, to run to Long Bar
and Parks Bar. In 1880, the firm of Suber & Cutts, formed in 1854, had the
record of being the only firm mentioned in the directory of 1855 which had
remained unchanged.
The spring wagons made later by S. H. Bradley, for delivery purposes,
gained State-wide reputation. In the earlier period, Bradley tried his hand at
stages and Concord coaches for use in the mountains, with decided success.
Katzner, Russell & Chase excelled in road carts for a number of years,
in which line they specialized.
Union Lumber Company
The Union Lumber Company was established in 1852 by W. K. Hudson
and Samuel Harryman, under the name of Hudson & Company. In 1854,
Harryman sold out to W. H. and G. B. Pepper. The yard was burned in
1854. In 1857, the firm was acquired by A. P. Willey, EHsha Scott and Thad-
deus Dean, who did business under the name of Willey, Dean & Company.
Dean sold out to P. P. Cain ; and in 1858 W. K. Hudson again became a
member, the firm name being changed to Hudson, AVilley & Cain.
In 1864, the firm was incorporated as the Union Lumber Company. W.
K. Hudson was elected president, and A. P. AVilley vice-president ; T. E.
Perkins, R. S. Jenkins and A. J. Batchelder were the other directors. In
1873 Hudson died, and A. P. AAilley was chosen president, and F. D. Hud-
son vice-president. The company at one time owned and operated fifteen saw-
mills in the county, and several in other counties. Since 1873 the company
has been limiting its activities to yard business only. H. Cheim has owned
the controlling interest in this business for many years now.
Other Manufacturing Industries of Early Days
Other factories and firms that Marysville boasted in the earlier days
were : The California Brewery, which was owned by Gottlieb Sieber ; boot and
shoe shops, conducted in a small way by F. Terstegge & Company, P. J.
Flannery, E. Healy, Philip Fisher, and Moon & Creighton ; a broom factory,
run by W. F. Lefavre ; the Pioneer Tannery, built by Drake & Spindler in
1852; marble works, started by McCready & Brothers in 1859; the Marysville
Coal & Gas Company, established in 1858; the H. M. Harris Saddlery, which
154 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
still is in existence; a sash, door and blinds factory, built in 1854 by C. H.
Goodwin; the Marysville Soap Works, established in 1863, by J. W. Cowan
and later conducted by James Cook and others ; and a wine and brandy man-
ufactory. In the tinware line, the writer recalls E. C. Ross & Company,
Cooley & Cady. Kertchem & Corley, and White, Cooley & Cutts, as firms
no longer in existence.
Early Express Companies
Adams & Company's Express had an office at the corner of High Street
and the Plaza. They advertised : "Our express will always be accompanied
by faithful messengers, and thus we are enabled to offer to our patrons the
greatest security for the transmission of treasure and valuable packages at
the lowest possible rates." Daily expresses were sent from Marysville to
Sacramento, San Francisco, Benicia, Grass Valley, Nevada, Auburn, Co-
loma, Shasta, Stockton, Sonora, Jackson, Placerville, Mormon Island, "and
all parts of the Northern and Southern Mines." The express for the Atlantic
States and for Europe was forwarded by every mail steamer, and also by
the Nicaragua Line.
Everts, Snell & Company had the "Feather River Express," connecting
with Adams & Company to Sacramento, San Francisco and all parts of the
Northern and Southern Mines. Their principal offices were located at Marys-
ville, St. Louis, Gibsonville, Pine Grove, and Chandlerville.
Wells, Fargo & Company also had an express office at Marysville.
Other Early Business Firms
A Lager Beer and Refreshment Saloon was conducted by "William Clark
in connection with the City Baths, corner First and D Streets, in 1856. "At
Home Again" is the way Clark's advertisement read. He assured his friends
that he would be happy to meet them again at his old stand. "To be up
with the times, I have made several additions," he said, "among which is a
Lager Beer and Refreshment Saloon in the basement, equal to any in the
city." Bathers were furnished with refreshments in their rooms, if desired.
Others engaged in business in Marysville at that time were : Reynolds
Bros., bankers ; S. T. Watts, wholesale druggists ; J. McGlashan & Co., books
and bookbinding; the Commercial Steam Book and Job Printing Establish-
ment ; G. & O. Amy, books and music ; Thomas Aliment, coffee and spices ;
Bourne, Elwell & Co., groceries, provisions and liquors ; H. F. Tarrant & Co.,
Burton Ale House ; J. S. and W. C. Belcher, attorneys-at-law ; Marysville
Iron Foundry and Machine Shops, Benham & Booth ; Mark Brumagim &
Co., bankers ; California Stage Co. ; Canfield & Wright, watchmakers and
jewelers ; Eugene Dupre, real estate and money brokers ; S. Decker, Phoenix
Saloon; Denckla & Bro., commission merchants; Samuel L. Dewey, gro-
ceries and liquors ; Deardorff & Lowery, carpenters and builders ; French &
Blackman, clothing; Charles Carl, stationers; A. P. Flint, crockery; J. H. and
J. R. Gassaway, barbers ; Isaac Glazier & Co., "old corner cigar store," corner
First and D, Sign of the Big Indian ; James Grant, storage, commission and
forwarding; Haun House, George Rowe, prop.; Hudson & Co., lumber;
Hartwell & Co., hardware; J. Hisey & Co., harness and saddlery; Heuston,
Hastings & Co., tailors; W. Hawley & Co., groceries; Hudson, Eilerman &
Co., tailors ; Langton & Co., bankers ; Pioneer Cigar Store, L. Lewis & Co. ;
Levi W. Taylor, general agent and collector ; J. C. Smith, Magnolia Saloon ;
John T. McCarty, lawyer; McFarlane & Co., wholesale and retail grocers;
Prof. F. Grambss, teacher of piano ; O. M. Evans, Merchants' Hotel ; J. C.
Miller, furniture; John McQuinn, green and dried fruits; McCormick &
Tennent, forwarding and commission; Murray's Western House; Philadel-
phia House, Bause & Harrington ; Pegram & Presbury, drugs, etc. ; E. M.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 155
Pierson, livery ; Frank Baker, upholsterer; A. Prou & Co., painters; J. N.
Rohr, house and sign painter ; Randal & Co., agents for San Francisco
papers; J. Ruth, daguerreian, ambrotypist and photographer; Rice-Coffin,
drugs ; The Spring House, John Spring, prop. ; Joseph F. Smith, lumber ;
C. F. Scholl, gunsmith; E. B. Stephens & Co., groceries and feed; J. M.
Schermier, tailor ; Queen City Mills, Soule, Bordewell & Co., props. ; United
States Hotel, Lee & Shields ; H. Wagner, books and stationery ; Warren &
Hill, stoves and tinware ; AVorthington & Fox, wines and brandies ; A.
Walker, groceries ; Winter & Burlingame, dentists ; Watkins & Keyser,
attorneys; J. H. Wright & Co., hardware; D. S. Lord & Co., stationery; Jo-
siah J. LeCount, stationery; Macy, Lowe & Co., bankers; Taylor & Wads-
worth, clothing; W\ C. Stokes, bottling; and Cox & Dougherty, "El Dorado"
bar and billiard saloon.
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
The character and standing of the financial institutions of a locality form
a basis from which may be determined the genuine worth, stability and
enterprise of its communities ; for no feature of progress in any community
sustains more important relations to its mercantile and manufacturing in-
terests than the banking institutions. Therefore, in reviewing the business
interests of Yuba and Sutter Counties, it is just and proper that more than
passing notice should be given to the banking houses of the "twin counties,"
the chief of which are located in Marysville and Wheatland in Yuba County,
and in Yuba City and Live Oak in Sutter County. These will be described
in connection with the cities or towns in which they are located.
Earliest Banking Houses
The first banking institution in the city of Marysville was that of Cun-
ningham & Brumagim. In the first directory of the city, this firm adver-
tised as having a "fire-proof building on D Street, third door south of the
United States Hotel." (All advertisers in those early days of the city seemed
to direct the stranger to their places of business from the hotel.) The adver-
tisement says further : "Cunningham & Brumagim have a treasure vault of
the most approved construction, and are prepared to receive deposits, special
or otherwise. Sight and time exchange on the Eastern States for sale at all
times, in sums to suit purchasers. Gold dust purchased at the highest rates.
Sight drafts on San Francisco at par."
The firm early had opposition in Adams & Company, bankers, who also
advertised a "fire-proof building, corner High Street and the Plaza." They
issued bills of exchange drawn on the leading cities in the East and payable
at many banks distant from those they were drawn upon. C. B. Macy was
the agent of this bank.
Decker-Jewett Bank
In 1858 Peter Decker and John H. Jewett took over the existing banking
business of Mark Brumagim & Company, and formed the partnership of
Decker & Jewett, later changed to Decker, Jewett & Company, when the late
A. C. Bingham became a member of the firm. On the death of Peter Decker
in 1888, the business was incorporated with additional capital by the Decker
Estate, John H. Jewett, A. C. Bingham, W. T. Ellis. D. E. Knight, Thomas
Dougall and I. S. Belcher. A. C. Bingham was the bank's cashier, and until
1917 carried on its traditions and policies. He had commenced with the bank
as a young man in 1867, and at the time of his death had completed fifty
years of active work. W. H. Parks, whose generous character and winning
personality are well remembered, had been with the bank thirty years, and at
the time of his death in 1913 was its vice-president.
156 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
The present cashier, H. B. P. Carden,' joined the bank's forces in 1888,
and became a director in 1909. President Elliott McAllister became a direc-
tor to represent the Decker interests in 1903, and president in 1910, after
acquiring the Jewett stockholding. John K. Kelly, recently elected vice-pres-
ident, and W. T. Ellis became directors in 1913.
Of the 447 banks in California doing business under the State charter
in 1918, the Decker- Jewett Bank was the oldest. The present officers of this
bank are: President, Elliott McAllister; vice-president, T- K. Kelly; cashier,
H. B. P. Carden ; directors, Elliott McAllister, J. K. Kelly, H. B. P. Carden,
and AY. T. Ellis.
Originally this bank was located at the corner of First and High Streets.
In 1873 it moved to its present location on D Street, between Second and
Third Streets, west side.
The Rideout String of Banks
The late N. D. Rideout for many years stood prominently among the
heads of the banking business in the field north of Sacramento. Gaining his
first experience as an associate of Brown & Company in a bank instituted
at Camptonville, Yuba County, Rideout, in 1861, launched the Rideout Bank
in Marysville, which later became the Bank of Rideout & Smith. The busi-
ness grew rapidly and earned the confidence of all classes. At the death of
Rideout, there were branches in Oroville, Gridley, Live Oak, Auburn, and
Wheatland. In 1922, the Rideout interests in Marysville were purchased by
the Bank of Italy, which at that period was buying up established banking
institutions in all sections of the State.
At the entry of the Bank of Italy into the local field in 1922, Dunning
Rideout, a nephew of the founder of the Rideout string of banks, was made
the local manager for the concern. W. B. Swain is assistant to Rideout, his
long experience with the Rideout institutions making him a valuable asset.
In the early nineties, the bank and the community suffered a distinct
loss in the death of Norman A. Rideout, son of the founder. He was crushed
to death in a mine .near Bangor by the falling of a huge boulder, while mak-
ing a survey of the property, in which he was interested.
Northern California Bank of Savings
One of the most creditable and interesting histories of steady progress
in a financial way is that of the Northern California Bank of Savings, which
was duly organized under the laws of the State of California in 1889. It has
made itself a bank for the people, and has always been a favorite with the
business interests of Marysville. Its large deposits are drawn from all
classes of citizens, including many leading business firms, farmers, and in-
dividuals of Marysville, and of other towns and localities in Yuba and Sutter
Counties ; and from its inception its career has been one of marked success.
The bank was for a long time located at the corner of Fourth and D Streets,
in the water-works building. It now owns its own building on the west side
of D Street, between Fourth and Fifth Streets.
In 1923 the officers of this bank were : President, Phoebe M. Rideout,
widow of N. D. Rideout ; vice-president, Heiman Cheim ; cashier, S. J. Flan-
ery; assistant cashier, E. S. C. Farrant.
First National Bank of Marysville
"As Solid as the Buttes" is the business slogan of the First National
Bank of Marysville, the youngest banking house in the city at the present
time. This bank was instituted on July 3, 1918, establishing headquarters at
the corner of D an d Third Streets, where it still is located. The present offi-
cers of the bank are: President, Thomas Mathews; vice-president, Dunning
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 157
Ricleout ; cashier,, P. T. Smith ; assistant cashier, Wesley C. Owen ; directors,
Phoebe M. Rideout, T. A. Gianella, P. T. Smith, A. W. Lewis, Thomas
Mathews, Dunning Rideout, J. E. Strain, and Lloyd H. Wilbur.
HOTELS, PAST AND PRESENT
Strange as it may seem, Marysville, which at this time can boast no
more than three bona fide hotels, saw built during the fifties no less than
thirty hostelries in which to house the stranger in a new land.
The first hotel in Marysville was an old adobe structure, which served
also as a trading post and the residence of the proprietor.
The next was the United States Hotel, a canvas structure, on the east
side of D Street, between First and Second Streets, which gave way to the
"Selby Building," now occupied as a garage and offices of the Chamber of
Commerce and the Red Cross. This canvas hotel was erected about Jan-
uary, 1850, and during the latter part of February and first part of March
was replaced with a board house. A few years later the brick building
now still standing was erected.
The City Hotel, another canvas building on the northeast corner of D
and First Streets, was also erected in 1850.
In July, 1851, the following hotels were opened: Fremont House, cor-
ner Maiden Lane (now Oak Street) and Second Street; the Eagle Hotel,
on High Street ; and the Hotel De France on the Plaza. About this time
several other public houses were opened: The Oriental House, corner of
Second and High Streets ; the Express Hotel on First Street ; St. Charles
Hotel, in the postoffice building, corner D and Third Streets ; and the Marys-
ville Hotel and brewery, corner Front and C Streets. Before the end of
the year Coleman's restaurant was started on High Street, between First
and Second ; and the Washington Hotel, corner of Second and High Streets.
The Merchants' Hotel was built in 1852 on the Plaza, at the corner of
First Street. This was the first brick hotel in the city. Humphrey & Clash-
ing kept a hotel on Second Street, between C and Maiden Lane, in 1852.
Humphrey removed to the site of the United States Hotel and put up a
brick building there.
The Western Hotel
The Western Hotel was built of wood about 1852, on the corner of D
and Second Streets, and "was destroyed by fire in May, 1854. Upon the site
of the old hotel, R. J. Murphy, at a cost of $30,000, erected a brick building,
opening it in November, 1854. The owner had charge of the hotel and made
of it a profitable institution. In 1858, Gideon Woodward was the manager.
In 1861, Moody & Smith were the proprietors, and in 1870, M. C. Dufficy &
Company. In 1871, the management was taken by George Wappel, formerly
of the Dawson House. The property at that time was owned by M. T.
Keller. Successors in interest thereafter were John A. Woodward, Berg
Brothers and Captain J. R. Foster. The Western Hotel Company, organ-
ized by Captain Foster, who died in 1921, now owns the structure, which
was remodeled and enlarged by Captain Foster.
The Dawson House
The Dawson House was erected of brick on the northeast corner of E
and Second Streets in 1855 by John Linhill, at a cost of $10,000. For years
this was a very popular house under Linhill's management. In 1861 and
1870, respectively, G. V. Dawson and G. F. Wappel were proprietors. For
years it was quite the proper thing to put up there. In 1922 this building
was razed to give place to a service station.
158 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY.
United States Hotel
A second and lasting United States Hotel, still standing, was built in
1856. at the southwest corner of Third and C Streets, where it was opened
by Lee & Hoffman. Subsequently W. C. Stokes and A. M. Shields assumed
the management. They were followed by Scheu & Swank, who in turn sold
in the early eighties to Sol Lewek. He conducted the place until 1917, when
the building was purchased by Fred Peardon and A. C. Powell, who remod-
eled it for lodgings only, on the upper floors. The lower floor is now occu-
pied as a hardware store by Booth & Herboth. The lodgings portion is
managed by Charles J. Becker, the city's mayor.
Other Early-Day Hostelries
The Golden Eagle Hotel, a three-story brick building containing forty
rooms, was erected in 1862 by A. Farnham. This hostelry is now known as
the National Hotel. At one time it was conducted by Bernard Mehl, and
later by Joseph Errissey.
The Vandevere House (now lodgings) was established in 1869, at the
northwest corner of B and Third Streets. The Ebner House, on B Street,
between Fourth and Fifth, was built in the seventies. The Denton House,
erected about the same time at the southwest corner of A and Seventh
Streets, was destroyed by fire in the nineties.
Other hotels built in the early days but no longer in existence, are :
Hotel de France, 1851, High Street, near Second; Phoenix House, 1853,
on High Street, between First and Second ; Ohio House, 1853, corner D and
Front Streets; Atlantic Hotel, 1853, Maiden Lane, between First and Second;
Mansion House, 1853, D Street, between Second and Third; Hotel de Com-
merce, 1853, Front Street, in the Plaza block; American Hotel, 1854, Maiden
Lane, between First and Second; Crescent City Hotel, 1854, east side of
High Street, between First and Second; Virginia Hotel, 1854, Second Street,
near Maiden Lane ; Philadelphia House, 1854, corner C and Second Streets ;
Pacific House, 1855, corner A and Seventh Streets ; Orleans Hotel, 1856, 49 C
Street; Spring House, 1857, Third Street, between D and High Streets;
What Cheer, 1857, corner Second and Maiden Lane ; St. Louis, 1857, 126 D
Street; Haun House, 1858, corner D and Third Streets; St. Charles, 1858,
corner Second and High Streets ; St. Nicholas, 1860, corner D and Third
Streets; Railroad House, 137 Third Street; Hotel du Nord, 1860, corner High
and Second Streets; Washington Hotel, 1860, 70 C Street; Globe Hotel,
1862, C and Second Streets; and Merchants' Hotel, 1863, west side of D
Street, between First and Second.
Projected Hotel
Marysville is now looking forward to the early completion of a modern
hotel of six stories at the southeast corner of Fifth and E Streets, on lots
formerly occupied by the Rideout Memorial Hospital, which was razed to
make room for it. The cost of this structure is. to be $400,000, including
furnishings. Rossi & Nelson, experienced hotel men, are to be the lessees.
The money for its construction was raised by the Marysville Hotel Com-
pany through popular subscriptions gathered in Yuba and Sutter Counties.
The building is to be practically fireproof.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS
Public Buildings erected in Marysville in the early fifties, of brick,
nearly all of which still stand in testimony of the lasting material and un-
stinted artisanship of those early days, are :
1854-1855: Yuba County Courthouse, corner D and Sixth Streets, 80 by .
SO feet, two stories; cost $45,000. Yuba County Jail, 28 by 50 feet, one story;
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 159
cost, $15,000. Gity Hall, corner Third and Maiden Lane, now Oak Street,
40 by 70 feet, two stories; cost, $25,000. Center Market, between Second
and Third Streets, fronting on both C Street and Maiden Lane (now Oak
Street), 42 by 142 feet, one story; cost, $11,000. Owned at the time of erec-
tion by D. C. Haskins and Packard & Woodruff.
1856: Yuba County Hospital, on Seventeenth Street, between H and I,
north side, 54 by 75 feet, two stories; cost, $16,000. Razed when present
hospital building was erected on J Street, between Fourteenth and Fifteenth.
In 1856 a jailor's dwelling was built on the south side of the Courthouse at
a cost of nearly $6000. The Hall of Records now occupies this site.
1859: Yuba Engine House, 40 by 60 feet, two stories; cost, $5000.
Some of these are described more in detail below.
The Courthouse
The first building erected for the transaction of county business was a
canvas structure built on the corner of E and Third Streets in 1850. It was a
room about twenty feet wide and thirty feet long, the second story being
used as a Masonic hall. In this place were held the sessions of the court,
public meetings and religious services.
In September, 1850, a one-story frame jail, 18 by 28 feet, was completed
on the lot at the corner of D and Sixth Streets, at a cost of $8000. The jail
lot cost $300. The expense of grading it was greater than its original cost.
In December, 1852, the Court of Sessions, which body filled the place
now occupied by the Board of Supervisors, appropriated $6000 for the pur-
chase of the St. Charles Hotel property, on the southwest corner of D and
Third Streets, for a courthouse. They also gave $500 to repair it. There
were only canvas partitions in the building at the time. After the present
Courthouse was built, the old property was sold, in 1855, for $10,725.
In 1854, Lot 5, Block 3, was bought by the Court of Sessions. The need
was now felt for a more improved and convenient courthouse. Accordingly,
in 1855, a new building, with jail attached, was erected at the corner of D
and Sixth Streets, and was occupied in November. The contract price was
$28,000; but the structure probably cost as high as $45,000.
The County Hospital
In September, 1853, the city established a hospital, in charge of John
T. McLean, M. D.. on Maiden Lane, between Sixth and Seventh Streets.
This was in part a private institution. The French citizens at this time
also had a hospital, which they maintained, in charge of Dr. Amouroux.
The first County Hospital was erected in 1856, the lot costing $1600.
The contract at first called for a one-story structure, for $8292. Before it
was completed, a second story was added at an additional cost of $6820.
Before it was ready for occupation, more money had to be expended in fur-
nishings and making the necessary arrangements for the reception of the
patients. This building was located on the north side of Seventeenth Street,
between H and I Streets, a site now outside the levee.
The present County Hospital on J Street, between Fifteenth and Six-
teenth, was built in the late eighties. The specifications called for the use
of wood as the material for the construction of the building. Against this
there was considerable protest ; but Dr. C. E. Stone, who was then on the
board of supervisors, insisted on the original plans, and won out. For this
reason the building was for some time referred to as "Stone's Folly."
The City Hall and Other Buildings
The present City Hall was contracted for in October, 1854, for $16,000,
although when finished it cost $25,000.
160 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
The present station house was erected in 1857, taking the place of a
residence property that stood on the lot. It was completed in the spring of
1858. About the same time the city erected a circular building on Frank-
lin Square, thirty feet in diameter, one story high, and thoroughly fireproof.
This was used as a powder magazine for the storage of that dangerous sub-
stance. In the eighties it was destroyed in an explosion of unknown cause.
THE PACKARD FREE LIBRARY
The Marysville Library Association
The splendid free public library at present maintained by the city of
Marysville grew out of a literary and scientific association organized in
1855. On the 10th of February in that year a number of citizens assembled
and formed a society called the Young Men's Literary and Scientific Asso-
ciation, which was subsequently incorporated under the name of the Marys-
ville Library Association, with a capital stock of $25,000, divided into 1000
shares. They elected Edwards Woodruff president ; Dr. D. W. C. Rice, vice-
president ; Dr. J. T. McLean, corresponding secretary ; F. H. Woodward,
recording secretary; Mark Brumagim, treasurer; John S. Eckman, J. E. Gal-
loway, Rev. D. A. Dryden, Warren T. Miller, William K. Hudson, William
Hawley, T. B. Reardon, D. C. Benham, and A. A. Vantine, directors.
The object of the association was to collect a library and maintain a
reading room where the members could enjoy themselves in a manner not
possible elsewhere, and, by pleasant social communion, and the literary ad-
vantages offered by such an association, improve themselves in mental cul-
ture. It was afterwards decided that the advantages of the library should
be extended to all the citizens ; and to that end the trustees of the association,
on December 15, 1858, deeded the library to the city, making it conditional
in the deed of transfer that the library should be kept open during certain
hours every day and should be free to the citizens of Marysville, and that
the council should annually appropriate $250 for the purchase of books,
and should pay the expenses of the library and the salary of the librarian.
All these requirements, and more, are being lived up to at the present time.
Thus, the Marysville Public Library grew out of this original organization.
At the outset, the library collection was kept in the upper story of a
building located at the corner of the Plaza and First Street, the rent being
$25 a month. During all the early meetings, John O. Packard was the lead-
ing spirit; and he was ably assisted by W. T. Ellis, Sr. The records, as
kept by the different secretaries, begin in 1856, the first meeting recorded
being that of February 22 of that year, held in the office of Mark Brumagim
& Company. This was a special meeting called to organize a new board of
trustees. The first regular meeting was held on March 4, 1856, the follow-
ing being present: M. Brumagim, president; W. A. Bollinger, A. G. Coffin,
W. T. Ellis, Sr., C. M. Patterson, and J. H. AVright. At this meeting an
offer was made by Henry Gordon Walton to act as librarian, his services
being offered without remuneration. John O. Packard was one of the early
directors of the association, and resigned as such in 1856, his place being
taken by A. P. Flint.
At these first meetings a series of lectures was conducted, to which an
admission of one dollar was charged. Among the lecturers named in the early
records are noted G. N. Swezy, Dr. McLean, Judge Stephen J. Field, and
T. B. Reardon. There seemed to be great interest taken then in establish-
ing a permanent library, as is evidenced by the efforts to obtain reading mat-
ter, and by the many volumes donated by citizens, some of which are yet
to be found on the library shelves.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 161
Besides the' lectures, as a means of revenue, there were several benefits
given, among which was part of the proceeds derived from a performance
by "Rowe's Equestrian Circus," the library realizing a net sum of $289.
Organization and Growth of the City Library
As previously stated, the Marysville Library Association, on December
15, 1858, donated all its books, maps, etc., to the city of Marysville, "said
city agreeing to furnish all the necessary rooms, to pay the librarian, and
to provide a sinking fund for the increase of the library, the same to be
controlled by a board of directors," of which the mayor was to be ex-ofHcio
chairman, the directors to consist of three aldermen (to be elected by the
city council), and three citizens.
The first meeting of the new board under city management was held
on December 29, 1858, and was presided over by Mayor Peter Decker. T.
Dean, S. J. Lover, and S. W. Selby were present as councilmen ; Rev. E. S.
Wadsworth, S. C. Tompkins, and W. C. Belcher, as school commissioners ;
and A. G. Coffin, Dr. John T. McLean, and John H. Jewett, as repre-
sentatives of the donors.
Miss Jane Jones held the position of librarian from April 19, 1880, until
her death in 1894, when Mrs. J. A. Saul was elected. Mrs. Saul held the
office until her resignation on March 8, 1898, when the present librarian, Mary
E. Suber, was elected. In Miss Suber the public has a most efficient and
faithful official. She keeps the office in excellent order, is kind and con-
siderate, and deservedly popular among the patrons of the institution on
account of the very able and courteous manner in which she assists in the
selection of the books desired.
As a means for procuring new reading matter from time to time, the
library has a lasting fund from donations made by wills and otherwise. The
interest from bequests made to the library through all the years since
Marysville established it, more than pays for the new books and for re-
bindings. In the order of the bequests made by citizens who had come to
love their adopted city are: The William Fletcher Fund, $1000; the John
Nash Fund, $1000; the Peter Decker Fund, $1000; the Phil W. Keyser Fund,
$250; the Edwards Woodruff Fund, $1000; the W. C. Belcher Fund, $1000;
the D. E. Knight Fund, $3000; the W. H. Parks, Jr., Fund, $500; and the
F. Alfred Peel Fund, $500. The money at the present time is invested as
follows : In bonds of the city of Marysville, bearing eight per cent interest,
S3500; and in stock in the Marysville Elks' Home, $6500, bearing interest
at the rate of six per cent.
The Library Building
For many years, indeed up to 1906, the library was housed in crowded
apartments in the City Hall. Then John Q. Packard came to the rescue, and
gave to Marysville the handsome free library building standing at the north-
west corner of Fourth and C Streets. On Friday evening, October 12, 1906,
at seven o'clock, the doors of this building were thrown open to the public.
It was built by Packard at a cost of $75,000. It was his wish that the men's
rooms on the lower floor be kept open on Sundays as well as during the
other days of the week.
The main reading room is on the second floor, and at the rear is the
librarian's desk. Back of the partitions behind this desk and the serving
counter, are the stack-rooms, private office, and children's room. At one
end of the desk is a stairway leading to the basement, where the men are
made comfortable. During the World War, a portion of this basement was
used by the women of Yuba-Sutter Chapter, American Red Cross, for sew-
162 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
ing, reception of donations, and packing- of the soldiers' packs and other
articles sent "over there."
On the top floor of the library building is a hallway and a large audi-
torium with a stage for speakers. This stage is made large enough for
amateur performances. Entrance to the top floor is gained by two stairways,
one at each side of the building, leading from the vestibule to a mezzanine
floor above the librarian's desk and overlooking the main reading room.
The building was completely furnished by the city council, and is as
convenient and beautiful in its appointments as any in the West.
John Q. Packard, Philanthropist
John Ouackenbos Packard, the pioneer merchant who gave to the city
of Marysville her magnificent library building, to be at all times free to her
people, was a retiring man, one who strenuously objected to publicity, or
notoriety of any kind. He allowed no celebration of his gift. "Ladies, will
you permit me to conduct my affairs as I see fit?" was his reply to a delega-
tion of women who waited upon him to insist that some ceremony be held in
dedication of his handsome donation to the city. When the corner-stone was
laid, Mr. Packard supposed there would be a total absence of ceremony ;
but the contractor, R. Dewar, San Francisco architect, and the sub-contrac-
tors, together with a number of citizens, saw to it that a receptacle was
made in the great piece of stone for the usual copper box. Into this box
were placed a number of coins of the realm, cards of the interested firms,
a brief history of the building, and of the local conditions at the time of the
erection of the library. The late Col. Edwin A. Forbes, who later became
adjutant general, at the head of the National Guard of California, wrote the
history that went into the corner-stone. Copies of the Marysville Democrat
and of the Marysville Appeal were also placed in the box. Further than
this, there was no ceremony at any time in connection with the building.
When the library was turned over to the city, the gift was acknowledged
in the adoption of the plainest form of resolution that could be prepared.
No flowery words, or adjectives of praise, were allowed.
John O. Packard was born in Johnstown, N. Y., November 26, 1822.
He was eighty-six years, of age at his death, which occurred in Santa
Cruz in this State in 1908, and eighty-four at the time of the dedication of
the building, which is a monument to his memory, notwithstanding his mod-
est}'. Mr. Packard was a direct descendant of the Packard family of Hol-
land. He received his education in the common schools, and at the age of
eighteen he became a clerk in a silk house in New York. When the discov-
ery of gold in California was heralded to the world, he was attracted to the
West and came, with others, by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and thence
on the old ship Equator to San Francisco. Eighty-seven days were spent
on the trip. He first went to the San Joaquin district and there worked in
the mines at Jacksonville. Later, after some privations on prospecting trips,
he returned to San Francisco, where he leased a lot on Montgomery Street
and erected thereon a wooden structure in which he started a mercantile
business. He later sold to a partner.
After this venture he came to Marysville, then the center of mining
activities. Here he formed a partnership with the late Col. Edwards Wood-
ruff, which partnership continued until the death of Woodruff in 1899. They
conducted a general merchandising business until the flood of 1862, when
they sold out. In the seventies, while the two were en route to New York,
Packard became interested in Salt Lake City, and acquired an interest in
the Eureka Hill Mine in the Tintic district. Later he and his brother.
Joseph, acquired a controlling interest. Packard became president and
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 163
manager, remaining as such until 1895. He located other mines in the dis-
trict, and as a result of his good judgment and foresight he was rewarded
with immense wealth from the properties.
In 1900 he again made his residence in Marysville ; and although he
spent most of his time at his fine residence in Santa Cruz, he called this city
his home and visited Marysville frequently. He owned large property
interests in Santa Cruz, and not long before his death sold large holdings
and water rights to the Martin-DeSabla Syndicate for power purposes. Be-
sides his holdings at Santa Cruz and in Nevada, he owned large tracts in
Yuba and Sutter Counties.
In spite of his years, Mr. Packard remained hale and hearty, and a
delightfully pleasant gentleman, to the end. Plain and honest, he was re-
spected wherever known. He was a life member of the Society of California
Pioneers and vice-president of the Pioneer Society of California. He well
performed his share in the development and- upbuilding of the West : and
notwithstanding he never would allow the applause of those who would
honor him, he is revered in the memory of thousands. It is only fair that
the building he presented to the city of Marysville shall always be known
as the Packard Free Library.
Through the efforts of Richard Belcher, attorney of this city, who was
a close friend of John O. Packard, an enlarged photograph of the philan-
thropist decorates the library over the desk of the librarian. It is the only
sign, or token, by which the donor of the handsome building may be known
to the stranger ignorant of the history of the structure. Air. Belcher gives
much of his time to the affairs of the library, selecting and purchasing.
from the funds appropriated by the city and the donors, the new volumes
being constantly added.
PUBLIC PARKS AND GROUNDS
The founders of the city of Marysville wisely set apart arid held for
the community use many breathing spots. They provided that the parks
should revert to the original owners in the event they are ever converted
to other use. Of a dozen such places, four are at present made especially
attractive to the weary visitor and to the home folks. Here again the
Women's Civic Improvement Club is to the fore. If a tree dies, or the work
of maintaining the parks is neglected, these women report the matter to
the city council.
The four parks thus far made inviting by trees and vegetation are Cor-
tez. Napoleon, Washington and Yuba Squares. The first two have each
a band-stand, from which free concerts are rendered during the summer
months. These concerts always are well attended, showing the apprecia-
tion of the people. Gradually the improvement will extend to the other
parks given the city by the pioneers. In 1922, Mrs. Corinne Kimball Ride-
out, widow of a former mayor, left, through a clause in her will, a trust fund
insuring, for all time, free concerts in the public parks of the city.
Knight Recreation Park
Another splendid gift to the city, ranking with the bequest of Mrs.
Rideout and with that of John Q. Packard, who gave Marysville her library
building, is the race-track grounds, bequeathed by the late David E. Knight,
and now known as Knight Recreation Park. Here the Marysville Golf Club
has its links, a popular retreat for the business man seeking diversion.
Marysville's Free Motor Park
The city council of Marysville, realizing the need of providing accom-
modations for the hundreds of automobile tourists who are now passing
164 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
through Yuba County, maintains a free auto park, which is in a class by
itself. Its renown has traveled to all parts of the Union. Frequently the
local Chamber of Commerce receives from some far-off Eastern community
a request for its plans, with a view to creating similar grounds.
Free shelter houses, free telephone, free correspondence material, free
bathing facilities and free water are provided visitors to the camp ground,
which is kept as attractive in appearance as any of the city's parks. Gas
for cooking is provided through meters. Almost yearly there is need of
new shelter houses.
The city is indebted to the Carpenters' Union for free labor in erect-
ing these shelter houses. From the creation of the park, the carpenters have
builded these shelters gratis. Nature has done the rest, causing the protect-
ing vine to grow over and around them.
The Marysville Women's Civic Improvement Club see to it that the
Free Motor Park has an abundance of flowering shrubs, evergreen trees,
rose bushes and every sort of plant. Two gardeners keep the walks and
lawns spotless. In the height of the motoring season, a man is in attend-
ance night and day. The visitor is made to go away shouting the hospitality
of .the people of Marysville. Marysville is as proud of its Free Motor Park-
as it is of its Free Library.
List of the City's Breathing Spots
Marysville's public parks, inclusive of the Plaza at the foot of E Street,
number eleven. Their names and locations are as follows : Cortez Square,
bounded by Fifth, Sixth, B and C Streets ; Miner's Square, bounded by
Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Swezy and Sampson Streets ; Sacramento Square,
bounded by Fourteenth, Fifteenth, B and C Streets ; Market Square, bounded
by Fifteenth, Sixteenth, G and H Streets ; Sutter Square, bounded by Four-
teenth, Fifteenth, L and M Streets ; Franklin Square, bounded by Fifth,
Sixth, L and M Streets ; Napoleon Square, bounded by Fifth, Sixth, G and H
Streets; Yuba Square, bounded by Eighth, Tenth, Yuba and Ramirez Streets;
Washington Square, bounded by Ninth, Eleventh, E and F Streets ; and
Lafayette Square, bounded by Ninth, Eleventh, J and K Streets.
Fealty of a Fraternity
In the Marysville City Cemetery stands a monument over a well-kept
grave attesting the fealty of an Eastern fraternity for a brother. In the
plot lie the remains of John Templeton McCarty, early-day attorney of
Marysville, who died in this city on February 4, 1860.
For many years the members of the college fraternity Phi Gamma Delta,
away back in Brookville, Ind., had lost trace of John Templeton McCarty,
their fraternity fellow. Finally, after the death of McCarty, they traced him
to Marysville, and then learned of his demise. At once the fraternity became
interested in his final resting-place, following a custom the members have
of following a brother even beyond the death call ; and by order of the fra-
ternity a headstone bearing this inscription now marks the grave :
JOHN TEMPLETON McCARTY
Born in Brookville, Indiana, August 28, 1828;
died in Marysville, California, February 4, 1860.
This memorial was erected to his memory by the
College Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta, of which
he was a founder, and the influence of which,
magnified beyond his fondest hopes, lives to en-
noble his memory.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 165
AMUSEMENTS AND SPORTS
Marysville residents early took to various amusements as a diversion ;
and while at the start nothing more than fair talent was seen in the compan-
ies of strollers, the patronage always was encouraging. The first public en-
tertainment ever presented in Marysville was given by H. Rossiter. It con-
sisted of a few legerdemain tricks and slack-wire dancing. The entertain-
ment was given in the winter of 1850 in the ballroom of the St. Charles
Hotel, corner of D and Third Streets.
Shows and Showhouses
Early in the summer of 1851, Dr. Robinson opened a spacious canvas
theater on the corner of High and Second Streets, with a very fair vaudeville
company, and was very successful.
Following him came James Stark, the California tragedian, supported
by Nesbitt McCron, an English actor of much merit, and Mrs. J. H. Kirby,
who later became Mrs. Stark. The season was a good one for both mana-
gers and audiences.
In 1852, the somewhat celebrated George Chapman furnished some
economical theatricals in a little room on First Street. The drama was still
patronized, and the patience of the people exercised.
In October of the same year, C. E. Bingham visited Marysville with a
company and held forth in a bathhouse at the corner of D and Front Streets.
His success was such that it was thought a theater might be sustained, but
who would build it? It might be a failure, and money was paying five per
cent a month interest. At last, however, two enterprising citizens — Seymour
Pixie}-, architect, and William W. Smith, city clerk, entered upon the experi-
ment. A neat and tastefully decorated theater was completed in December,
and was opened by Bingham, who, though himself a good actor, had col-
lected around him a company more numerous than talented. He did well
for more than two months, which was considered a long season for so
small a town.
This theater was destroyed by fire in 1854, and- in its stead another show-
house was erected on its ruins by R. A. Eddy. Ten years later, this latter
theater, situated on the west side of D Street, between Second and Third,
was razed by a fire that started in a clothing store on the lower floor. Dr. S.
T. "Watts and Charles P. Henry, owners, lost heavily.
The lot now occupied by the Elks' Home and the paint store of the
Robinson-Brooks Company was next selected as a theater site. The building
erected here served, under several ownerships, until June, 1903, when it, too,
was burned low, from a fire that started in the Swain •& Hudson planing mill
on the south. W. C. Swain was the then owner. When the Elks decided to
build, they chose the Swain lot.
The present Atkins Theater was built on the ruins of the planing mill,
the citizens of Marysville giving to Frank Atkins, Sr., a bonus to engage in
the enterprise, in order that there might be a continuance of the theatricals to
which they had become accustomed.
Marysville is particularly favored with visits from the best shows that
visit the Coast, chiefly because of its splendid railroad connections, night
and day. A troupe showing in San Francisco and desiring to "jump" to
Portland, Ore., must lose at least one night en route. That night is generally
given to Marysville, because of the fact that the troupe can make a stand
here and catch a train Portland-bound that passes not long after midnight.
Besides the big showhouse, Marysville supports two moving-picture
houses at the present time.
166 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
The Famed Intrepid Baseball Club
Marysville always has leaned to sports of a cleanly nature — the uplift-
ing, helpful sort — and the national game of baseball has always been in the
lead. This city was the home of the famed Intrepid Baseball Club, which
gained State-wide reputation in the seventies, eighties, and nineties.
The club was formed on March 10, 1875, by George W. Elder, "Low" C.
Williams and others. The members were Marysville young men who made
no claim for qualifications above the amateur, on the diamond. Some of the
players went East in 1884 and made good with Eastern clubs. George Cum-
mings, pitcher, who gained the sobriquet of "Speedy George" because of the
speed of his delivery, went to Harrisburg, Pa. ; Mike DePangher, catcher for
the Intrepids, was called to Detroit, Mich. ; and Jack Cullen, also catcher,
than whom there never was a more graceful player, went to Reading, Pa.
Among the notable victories of the club were those won by the Intrepids
in their games against the Eurekas of Sacramento, score 11 to 2 ; the Unions
of Sacramento, score 12 to 3, in 1883; and the Enterprises of San Francisco,
score 9 to 7, in 1885. Jack Cavanaugh of Chicago, half-brother of second-
sacker Low C. Williams, played for Marysville in the last-mentioned game.
Many games were played between the Intrepids and the Riversides of
Oroville.
The Intrepids were defeated in San Francisco, in 1878, by the Eagles,
score 10 to 0. Here the Marysville boys faced for the first time a curved-
ball pitcher. His deliveries were truly puzzling, as the score plainly shows.
The Intrepids continued as a club for about twelve years, and their
strength always lay in their team work. Among the members were : George
W. Elder, who afterwards became State purchasing agent and lived in Sac-
ramento ; Lowell C. Williams, who became mayor of Marysville, and who
now holds a responsible position with the Marysville Water Company ;
George B. Baldwin, who became first mayor of Nome, Alaska, and who now
is with the Pacific Gas & Electric Company in Sacramento ; James M. Cre-
min, who later was State statistician, State printer, and a member of the
State Reclamation Board ; and John McDonald, who is with the Sacramento
fire department as an engineer. John' Baugh, better known as Barr, was the
first baseman. He stood six feet, four inches high ; so the high throws did
not bother him. Then there were Jack and Jim Haggerty, Kelly Derrickson,
James Kertchem, Les Jennings, Chub Casey, and Phil J. Divver. Hank Ly-
don was also a member in later years.
Low Williams and Chub Casey still reside in Marysville. Though not
so active as in the days of the Intrepids, their hearts are still in the game.
Specific plays made in .the several important contests in which the Intrepids
figured, are still recalled when this pair play with the "hot stove" league.
Harvest Festival in Marysville's Chinatown
Chinatown in Marysville is one of the oldest Chinese settlements in the
United States. At one time it was the headquarters for about 3000 Celestials
employed in the mines, and later in railroad building. During the gold rush,
the Chinese came in droves ; casting their lot with the white man, they
were with him in his privations and in his successes. Five dollars a day, an
amount often dug from the earth in a day's work, looked good to one who had
been glad to earn ten cents a day, or even less, in his native country. For
many years Ah Fee, a merchant wdio came early to Marysville, -was, the go-
between for the whites and Chinese.
Those were the days when the Chinese had their annual celebration of
the Harvest Festival, a holiday that ranked with the Fourth of July celebra-
tion of the whites, and which brought quite as many people to the city as
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 167
did the Independence Day festivities or the circus. There always was a big
parade, with the big dragon, of nation-wide fame, as a feature. Fifty men
were required to carry the silken, jointed, and high-spirited reptile. Three
or four others were employed to prance in front of Mr. Dragon, waving in
front of him a model of a fish, intended to tease him into writhings, which
writhings were produced by the carriers of the "big fish," a half block long.
The high priests, representatives of the tongs, and delegations from the Chin-
ese lodges took part in the parade. Delegations depicting the warriors of old
brought up the rear, headed by a Chinese band.
The day's ceremonies centered in Bock Ky Church, an edifice which still
stands at the corner of Front and D Streets. The "bomb throwing," which in
the earlier days was accompanied by battles calling for the interference of
the police, is still a custom. At the explosion of the bomb, a ring of bamboo,
to which is attached a strip of red cloth bearing a number, is sent heaven-
ward. The contestants on the ground reach for this ring in its descent, and
must catch it before it touches the earth. From the characters on the red
strip of cloth, the "catchee" learns the prize that has come to him — gener-
ally considered as a token of good luck. The man who catches the capital
prize has charge of the church, and also receives certain emoluments during
the next twelve months.
MARYSVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT
Early Vigilance Committees
Yuba County, like all other districts of California settled in the early
days, was forced to, have its Vigilance Committee. Legal proceedings were
carried on under the old Mexican laws. With the insufficient force of officers
provided, it was difficult to apprehend a criminal ; and under the laws in
force, it was quite as difficult to convict a man of crime. The miners, real-
izing this fact and knowing the consequence of leniency toward the criminal
class, took the law into their own hands. If a crime was committed, the
neighboring miners quickly captured the suspected person; a judge was ap-
pointed, a jury was summoned and sworn, attorneys (unlearned in the law)
were provided, and the trial proceeded with all the gravity and formality of
a legally organized court. The testimony was heard, arguments were made,
and the case was then placed in the hands of the jury. Their' decision was
final ; and upon it depended, in most instances, the life of the prisoner, for
hanging in those days was a favorite and common punishment, not only for
murder, but even for stealing.
Soon after the organization of the celebrated Vigilance Committee in
San Francisco, the people of Marysville decided to unite and form a similar
institution for mutual protection. The tendency of the actions in the metrop-
olis was to drive the criminal class into the interior cities ; and is was for
this reason, partly, that the Vigilance Committee was formed in Marysville.
It was in July, 1853, that the local committee organized, with addresses
by prominent citizens upon the need for the body. At a meeting of the
Marysville committee held on August 19, 1851, the following resolutions
were passed, which clearly showed the spirit of the organization :
"Resolved, that this committee will never lend its aid to any man
or set of men, for the purpose of disorganizing established government or
nullifying the laws ;
"Resolved, that our aim and object is to create order in society, and not
to foster anarchy and confusion."
About August of the same year, a Vigilance Committee was organized
at Barton's Bar on the Yuba River, probably growing out of the action taken
in punishing a man named Reynolds, a gun thief.
168 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
On October 13, 1851, a special committee was appointed by the Marys-
ville Vigilance Committee to make assessments, to collect the same, to de-
fray the debt, and to dispose of the property of the organization. A com-
mittee of ten was made a standing executive committee. The general com-
mittee, finding no more work to perform, ceased to function.
Officers of the Police Department
In November, 1853, William H. Lent, later a San Francisco capitalist,
was appointed first captain of police by the city council of Marysville. In
1854 the police force was one marshal, one captain and eight policemen. Now
it is composed of the chief, six policemen and a night watchman, the latter
being paid by the merchants through private subscriptions. The council has
the power to name such other policemen as they see fit, and extras are often
named in emergencies.
Only a few of the present generation living in Yuba and Sutter Counties
can hark back to the days when! M. R. ("Mart") Casad was head of the po-
lice force of the city of Marysville, working with one or two regular officers
in the beginning, and sometimes assisted by special men, including the
Chinatown policeman and a constable. Casad first appeared as city marshal
in 1872. Those who preceded him in the office were: A. S. Miller, 1851 and
1852; L. L. Springer, 1853; S. P. Wells, part of 1853 and of 1854; J. W.
Easterling, 1854 and 1855; I. M. Anderson, 1855 and 1856; A. W. Nightin-
gill, 1856 and 1857; A. J. Barkley, 1857 to 1861; A. W. Johnston, 1862 and
1863; P. W. Winkley, 1864 and 1865; J. C. Donley, 1866 and 1867; G. R.
Nightingill, 1868 and 1869; Samuel Garber, 1870 and 1871. Mart Casad served
from 1872 to 1880, when he was succeeded by M. C. ("Mike") Hogan, who
had served as police officer under him. Hogan served one term, when he was
defeated for the office by James A. Maben. The latter held the office — most
of the time without opposition — for nearly thirty years, until his death.
Maben's successor was Charles J. McCoy, the present sheriff of Yuba
County. When McCoy was promoted to the county office, he was succeeded
by Chester A. Smith, the present head of the police department.
During the decade when Mart Casad was marshal, he had as subordinate
officers, with power of arrest, Hank L". McCoy, who afterward became sheriff,
Jim Devolt, J. B. ("Jim") Leman, John Cunningham, Patrick Corr, J. F.
Smiley, P. P. Polley, John Colford, E. E. Van Sickle, H. A. ("Fawn") Clark,
and G. W. Harris, who was a special officer employed at the theater.
In the next decade, the eighties, the following names appear on the
record : D. P. Derrickson, H. A. Clark, John Colford, M. C. Hogan, William
T. Gore, E. B. Morse, Robert Finn, John L. Murphy, and John Spillane. Finn
and Murphy resigned to take positions on the San Francisco police depart-
ment's force, both having made local records deserving of the promotions.
H. J. McCoy succeeded Murphy.
During the nineties, Spillane continued in office for a short time, when
he too was called to the San Francisco force. At Spillane's promotion, W. C.
Burroughs was added to the force ; and he had as co-workers H. J. McCoy,
Gus Musselman, Oscar L. Meek, and J. E. Parmelee. Others who served
in that decade were J. H. Single, present under-sheriff, and Charles J. Becker,
present councilman.
New names appearing on the record between 1900 and 1910 were:
Charles J. McCoy, John Colford, Jr., Erwin Sayles, and Chester A. Smith,
who is the present police head. Sayles became under-sheriff under Charles J.
McCoy. He died in Eos Angeles in the fall of 1922, following an extended
illness that forced his removal from this section.
Between 1910 and 1920, new additions were: Henry Blue, present coun-
cilman, John Sperbeck, B. J. Chapman, Henry Harrington, James Mock,
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 169
Francis M. Heenan, Richard Barrett, William Booth, and S. C. ("Steve")
Howser. Of this set of officers, three gave up their lives in the performance
of their duties — John Sperbeck, James Mock, and Francis M. Heenan. A de-
tailed account of their killing, in the period between 1915 and 1922, is given
in the chapter entitled "Crimes and Criminals."
Since 1920, the officers who have served, and those still serving, are :
William Booth, S. C. Howser, A. E. Allread, Dennis McAuliffe, Thomas
Bennett, J. Ed Wemple, Lewis M. Allen, Henry Faul, and Samuel Johnson.
The last named, and also William Finley, George Anderson, George K.
Meyers, William Anderson, O. W. Holland, and Eewis M. Allen, served
the city of Marysville as traffic officers from time to time. George K. Meyers
met injuries during his term as traffic officer, which later caused his death in
the southern portion of the State.
Through all the years since the organization of the Marysville police
department its officers have won enviable spurs in their trying work. Im-
portant captures have been made for other sections by the local force ; and
the reputation of the department not only has become State-wide, but reaches
beyond the boundaries of California.
CITY OFFICIALS, PAST AND PRESENT
Mayors and Aldermen
1851 and 1852: Mayor, S. M. Miles; aldermen, E. W. Ransom, S. C.
Stambaugh, F. W. Shaeffer, B. Tallman, J. G. Smith, and D. W. C. Rice.
1852 and 1853: Mayor, John H. Jewett; aldermen, E. Garst. Edwards
Woodruff, H. Beach, S. A. Duval, D. W. C. Rice, D. C. Haskin, B. Green,
and W. H. Chapman.
1853 and 1854: Mayor, S. M. Miles ; aldermen, I. A. Eaton, E. Woodruff,
W. C. Armstrong, J. A. Paxton, H. P. Osgood, W. T. Fonda, C. McLaugh-
lin, and E. Slosson.
1854 and 1855 : Mayor, G. E. Winters ; aldermen, J. C. Fall, E. Garst,
J. A. Paxton, W. B. Thornburg, H. P. Osgood, J. T. Dickey, F. C. Chase,
and A. Ellison.
1855 and 1856: Mayor, James Allen; aldermen, William Hawley, J. E.
Galloway, H. B. Summers C. H. Hedges, W. P. Thompson, W. P. Miller,
W. K. Hudson, A. J. Lucas, C. G. Moxley, B. F. Mann, E. E. Stephens, and
P. M. Chandler.
1856 and 1857 : Mayor, Levi Hite ; aldermen, J. E. Galloway, J. H.
Tennant, I. Mears, J. C. Wilson, J. A. Paxton, P. W. Randle, S. C. Tompkins,
S. Paine, M. Fuller, H. J. Booth, M. Brumagim, and E. Teegarden.
1857: Mayor, S. C. Tompkins; aldermen, F. F. Lowe, E. Garst, John S.
Love, W. B. Thornburg, J. A. Paxton, George F. Thomas, E. Woodruff, W.
C. Dougherty, J. T. Dickey, W. K. Hudson, A. Putnam, and J. T. Campbell.
1858: Mayor, Peter Decker; aldermen, S. W. Selby, F. L. Hatch, W. P.
Weaks, Thad Dean, W. P. Miller, John S. Love, W. C. Stokes, George W.
Aubery, H. M. Heuston, E. D. Wheeler, E. Teegarden, and A. Ellison.
1859: Mayor, William Singer; aldermen, John H. Jewett, T. P. Otis,
J. H. Tennant, John S. Love, J. S. Eshom, L. Mann, W. C. Stokes, P. J.
Welsh, C. B. Fowler, A. Ellison, C. Covillaud, and Joshua Davis.
1860 and 1861 : Mayor, C. B. Fowler ; aldermen, John S. Love, W. P.
Weaks, A. Walker, L. Mann, J. S. Eshom, O. Wood, J. T. Dickey, A. M.
Shields, W. K. Hudson, A. J. Hann, Joshua Davis, and C. L- Thomas.
1862 and 1863: Mayor, C. B. Fowler; aldermen, William Hawley, P.
W. Winkley, J. B. Emmal, S. Moody, J. H. Lassiter, N. D. Rideout, A. D.
Starr, and John T. Bayley.
170 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY.
1864 and 1865 : Mayor, C. B. Fowler ; aldermen, William Hawley, W.
C. Ogden, C. P. Pollard, T. W. McCready, William L. Lawrence, Jacob
Tomb, S. H. Bradley, and C. Meyers.
1866 and 1867 : Mayor, W. K. Hudson ; aldermen, William Hawley, E.
Van Muller, George North, R. G. Stanwood, J. H. jewett, J. Trayner, A. D.
Starr, and D. E. Knight.
1868 and 1869: Mayor, Charles M. Gorham : aldermen, Sanford Blod-
gett, A. W. Torrey, P. W. Winkley, J. O. Foster, Dr. S. J. S. Rogers, G. B.
Hornish (vice Frank Hudson, resigned), J. B. Roblin, and S. Cummins.
1870 and 1871 : Mayor, C. M. Gorham ; aldermen, A. W. Torrey, S.
Blodgett, Ed Harrington, James Williamson, Dr. S. J. S. Rogers, John L.
Steward, Dr. E. Parish, and C. N. Jenkins.
1872 and 1873: Mayor, C. M. Gorham; aldermen, H. B. AVilliamson,
A. J. Cumberson, A. J. Binney, W. T. Ellis, Jacob Tomb, F. A. Hill, C.
Meyers, and S. H. Bradley.
1874 and 1875: Mayor, William Hawley; aldermen H. B. Williamson,
W. C. Shaffer, C. N. Jenkins, T. C. Martin, W. L. Lawrence, Tacob Tomb,
D. E. Knight, and S. H. Bradley.
Mayors and Councilmen
In 1875, a legislative act reduced the number of aldermen, who there-
after were called "members of the common council," to four — one from each
ward, instead of two.
1876 and 1877: Mayor, Dr. C. E. Stone; councilmen. G. W. Peacock, A.
C. Bingham, Dr. S. J. S. Rogers, and James Cook.
1878 and 1879: Mayor, N. D. Rideout; councilmen, George W. Pine, P.
C. Slattery, Frank D. Hudson, and Fred A. Grass.
1880 and 1881 : Mayor, Dr. C. E. Stone ; councilmen, John P. Swift, E.
C. Ross, J. H. Krause, J. A. Saul (July 6, 1881, vice J. H. Krause, resigned),
and John Peffer.
1882 and 1883: Mayor, A. C. Bingham; councilmen, Henry Block, A. D.
Cutts, Jerry A. Saul, and George S. Cooley.
1884 and 1885 : Mayor, A. C. Bingham ; councilmen, J. B. Fuller, A. J.
Wightman, J. A. Saul, and H. R. D. Townsend.
1886 and 1887: Maj'or, Fred H. Greely ; councilmen, A. W. Lewis,
George W. Elder, Frank D. Hudson, and D. J. Kertchem.
1888 and 1889: Mayor, P. C. Slattery; councilmen, George F. Adams,
Joseph Heyl, Isaac W. Bradley, and V. C. Putman.
1890 and 1891 : Mayor, J. U. Hofstetter ; councilmen, H. M. Harris, N.
V. Nelson, David Condon, and John Peffer.
1892 and 1893 : Mayor, Norman A. Rideout ; councilmen, George W.
Peacock, J. B. Fuller (April 3, 1893, vice G. W. Peacock, deceased), R. W.
Skinner, Ed H. Hudson, and Alex C. Irwin.
1894 and 1895 : Mayor, W. T. Ellis, Jr. ; councilmen, W. F. Kelly, Mar-
tin Sullivan, Lowell C. Williams, and Bernard Mehl.
1896 and 1897: Mayor, W. T. Ellis, Jr., reelected; councilmen, W. F.
Kelly, Martin Sullivan, Lowell C. Williams, and Bernard Mehl, all reelected.
1898 and 1899: Mayor, Charles S. Brooks; councilmen, Adam Euler,
F. W. Potter, L. C. AVilliams, and Henry Sieber.
1900 and 1901 : Mayor, Charles S. Brooks ; councilmen, J. C. Baldwin,
J. W. Steward, G. W. Hammerly, and Phil J. Divver.
1902 and 1903: Mayors, Lowell C. Williams and G. W. Harney (vice
Lowell C. AVilliams, who resigned on account of ill health after serving five
months of term ; Harney was chosen by the council) ; councilmen, Thomas
J. O'Brien, Joseph P. Heyl, N. V. Nelson, and Phil J. Divver.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 171
1904 and 1905 : Mayor, George R. Eckart : councilmen, G. AY. Hall,
Michael Katzner, Peter J. Delay, and James L. Hare.
1906 and 1907 : Mayor, G. AY. Hall ; councilmen, George F. Herzog,
C. Frank Aaron, Peter T. Delay, and Tohn P. Herbert.
1908 and 1909 : Mayor, Peter J. Delay ; councilmen, William F. Corey,
Toseph A. Haubrich. Henry A. Bruce, and John Gavin.
1910 and 1911: Mayor. G. AY. Hall ; 'councilmen, AV. F. Corey, S. D.
Johnson, R. E. Bevan, and John AA^. Mock.
1912 and 1913 : Mayor, Harry E. Hyde ; councilmen, Matt Arnoldy,
S. D. Johnson, R. E. Bevan and John AY. Mock.
1914 and 1915: Mayor, Harry E. Hvde : councilmen, Matt Arnoldy,
J. F. Tapley. R. E. Bevan, and John AV. Mock.
1916 and 1917: Mayor, Harry E. Hyde; councilmen, C. E. Swift, Frank
M. Booth, Thomas F. Mathews, and F. E. Smith.
1918 and 1919: Mayor, Matt Arnoldy: councilmen, C. E. Swift, Frank
M. Booth, Thomas F. Mathews, and F. E. Smith, all reelected.
Mayors and Councilmen under New Charter
The election of the spring of 1920 was held under a new charter, which
provided for the election of five councilmen at large, instead of four council-
men elected by- wards as provided in the old charter. Three of the council-
men were chosen for a long term of four years' duration, and two for the
short term of two years. The candidate receiving the largest number of
votes in this election was made mayor.
Elected in 1920 : Mayor, Thomas Mathews : councilmen, long term,
Thomas Mathews, Frank M. Booth, and George W. Richards ; short term.
Matt Arnoldy- and Leslie B. Crook.
In the spring of 1922, Frank M. Booth was promoted to the office of
mayor, and in the spring of the following year the honor was conferred upon
George W. Richards, through authority given the board under the new char-
ter. At the close of the terms of Matt Arnoldy and Leslie B. Crook, Charles
J. Becker and Henry Blue were chosen to the vacancies by the electors.
On December 17, 1923, George W. Richards resigned the office of mayor
on account of the press of private business. He was succeeded by former
Mayor Frank M. Booth upon the vote of the council. The vacancy caused
by Booth's promotion was filled by the appointment of L. A. AA'illiams by
the council.
On January 21, 1924, a municipal election was held to fill the expiring
terms of Frank M. Booth. Thomas Mathews and L. A. A\ r illiams. Of eleven
candidates nominated, James C. Baldwin, with 785 votes, John W. AA'atson.
with 618 votes, and AA'alter A. Kynoch, with 614 votes, were elected. They-
were inaugurated into office on February 4, 1924.
E. B. Stanwood having resigned as city- clerk on January 15. the first
official act of the new council was to elect George A\ r . Richards to the
vacancy, which had been filled temporarily, from Stanwood's retirement to
February 4, by Miss Elice AV. Gern, a deputy clerk under Stanwood.
Other City Officials
Recorders : Between the years 1855 and 1860, the office of recorder
existed. Those who filled that position were : G. N. Mott, S. B. Mulford,
J. T. McCarty, J. O. Goodwin, and J. I. Kyle.
Police Judges : The office of police judge was created in 1876 and has
been filled by r the following incumbents: C. M. Gorham, H. S. Hoblitzell,
Thomas H. Kernan, Samuel Garber, R. R. Raish, and W. E. Langdon.
City Clerks and Assessors: The office of city clerk, since 1851 to date,
has been filled by the following: R. H. Tavlor, AA*. W. Smith, George C.
172 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
Gorham, C. M. Patterson, C. M. Gorham, B. Eilerman, A. Gibson, H. Barrett,
Michael Fitzgerald, George W. Pine, F. E. Smith, A. H. White, James L.
Hare, George W. Richards, E. B. Stanwood, and George W. Richards (re-
turned). The office of assessor was combined with this office until the
adoption of the new city charter in 1920.
City Marshals : A. S. Miller, E. E. Springer, S. P. Wells, J. W. Easter-
ling, E M. Anderson, A. W. Nightingill, A. J. Barkley, A. W. Johnston, P.
W. Winkley, J. C. Donley, G. R. Nightingill, Samuel Garber, M. R. Casad,
Michael C. Hogan, J. A. Maben, Charles J. McCoy, and Chester A. Smith.
City Attorneys : F. J. McCann, J. J. Foster, G. N. Swezy, Charles Lind-
ley, W. C. Belcher, I. S. Belcher, J. G. Eastman, C. E. Filkins, William G.
Murphy, Ed A. Belcher, C. A. Webb, Wallace Dinsmore, W. H. Carlin, A.
H. Redington, E. B. Stanwood, and W. P. Rich.
City Treasurers : L. Cunningham, M. Brumagim, S. P. Wells, A. G.
Souk, G. M. Scott, A. D. Starr, J. W. Moore, W. E. Williams, W. T. Ellis,
James Trayner, E. C. Ross, A. C. Bingham, Justus Greely, C. S. Brooks,
George R. Eckart, W. H. Parks, Jr., and W. B. Swain.
City Surveyors and City Engineers : Early-day city surveyors were :
W. Wescoatt, Joseph Johnston, H. H. Sanford, and Jason R. Meek. This
office later was made that of city engineer, and it has been filled by L. B.
Crook and William M. Meek.
CHAPTER XIV
SCHOOLS OF THE CITY AND COUNTY
The school system of the city of Marysvilk had its birth in a sheet-
iron building eighteen feet in length and ten feet in width. The teacher was
Rev. S. V. Blakeslee, who conducted a private school. When he opened his
school, in May, 1850, he had nine pupils, male and female, ranging from
eleven to seventeen years. After a session of three weeks, he was obliged
to discontinue on account of the great heat and the uncomfortable quarters.
From this modest start, the schools of the county have grown to thirty-
seven in number, including a union high school in Marysvilk with branches
at Smartsvilk, Dobbins and Camptonvilk, and a union high school in Wheat-
land ; and instead of one teacher, managing his private school, the number
of teachers has now grown to ninety throughout the county. This includes
a kindergarten school, connected with the Marysvilk Grammar School.
Sometime during the latter part of 1851, a school was established by
Rev. Mr. Thatcher in the Presbyterian Church on D Street.
EARLY PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM
Organization and Growth
During the first years of the growth and settlement of Marysvilk, the
population was composed almost entirely of males. But in the latter part
of 1851, and the first part of 1852, several gentlemen brought from their
Eastern homes their wives and families. It was then that the need of pub-
lic schools became apparent; and on May 4, 1852, a meeting was held in
the recorder's office, of citizens interested in establishing a free public school.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 173
The attendance .at this meeting was small ; but a committee was appointed
to submit at the next meeting the basis of a plan for the organization of a
school association. The meeting adjourned to the 6th, and on that evening
John H. Jewett, afterward mayor, presided. The attendance was large,
and definite action was taken. A committee of two from each ward was
appointed to draft a plan and make an estimate on a house for school pur-
poses, and to solicit subscriptions amounting to $10,000, for that purpose.
Before taking final action, the promoters made an offer to the Methodists,
who already had a school at a cost of $5000. to join them ; but the sugges-
tion was declined.
In the middle of June, 1852, an ordinance was passed, establishing a
system of common schools in the city of Marysville. In July, the first public
school was opened. Since that time, with the exception of the necessary
vacations, teaching in the public schools of the county has been continuous.
The basement of the Methodist Episcopal Church was fitted up, and the
public schools started there.
The school building at B and Seventh Streets, which still stands and is
used for manual training, municipal band practice, and other purposes, was
completed in 1858. It was 66 feet long, 56 feet wide, and two stories high.
Later it was remodeled. In the beginning, there were four school rooms and
one recitation room. The contractor was J. A. Steel.
In 1857 the county had thirteen school districts, as follows : Marys-
ville, Bear River, Oregon House, Peoria House, Foster Bar, Pleasant Grove,
Linda, Keystone, Camptonville, Rose Bar, Browns Valley, Bear River No. 2,
and Linda No. 2.
Before 1862, the public schools were divided into six departments, of
which the following were located in the then new building at B and Seventh
Streets. Grammar Department, Boys' Intermediate Department, Girls" In-
termediate Department, and Girls' Primary Department. Two primary
classes of boys occupied the rooms in the basement of the Methodist Church.
The number in attendance during the year 1861 was over 300, with an aver-
age daily attendance of 250.
In the spring of 1870, a wooden building, finished in imitation of stone,
was erected on E Street, corner of Seventh Street, W. C. Swain being the
architect. It cost $10,000, and was furnished at an additional outlay of $1500.
The girls occupied this building. This is the same structure which was
recently removed to a lot north of the Marysville Union High School, facing
on Seventh Street.
A school for colored children was kept in the basement of Mt. Olivet
Baptist Church on Sixth Street, corner of High Street. Miss Carrie Oldfield
was the teacher.
OTHER EARLY-DAY SCHOOLS
Marysville Eclectic Institute
The Marysville Eclectic Institute was opened on August 18, 1853, in the
Methodist Episcopal Church by Rev. James H. Bristow and wife. They
announced that the various branches of a thorough American education
were to be taught and the discipline was to be prompt, yet mild. Spelling,
reading and writing were taught for five dollars a month ; arithmetic (mental
and practical), geography, definitions, and critical reading, six dollars a
month ; and English, grammar, logic, and rhetoric, eight dollars a month.
In the fall C. C. Cummings became the principal.
Poston Seminary
This school was opened in November of 1857, on E Street, between
Seventh and Eighth Streets, by Miss E. C. Poston. Subsequently it was
174 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
removed to the corner of D and Sixth Streets, where it flourished until the
late seventies, under Miss Poston and others. On its site now stands the
residence of Dr. J. L. Sullivan.
How the Eugenia C. Poston Seminary came to be instituted in Marys-
ville is best told in a sketch written by Miss Poston not long before her
death, which sketch is in the possession of Judge Eugene Poston McDaniel
of the superior court, whose middle name came to him through a warm
friendship that grew up between Dr. R. H. McDaniel, early-day physician,
his family, and Miss Poston. Miss Poston wrote :
"My work as a teacher in California began in January, 1856, in a coun-
try public school located near the Sutter Buttes, within the limits of the
present Sutter City. The position was obtained for me by George Brittan,
an influential rancher in the vicinity, and trustee of the school. His children
were my scholars then, and his two daughters were afterwards with us at
the Seminary. The early death of the eldest, Mary, was a great loss to me.
The friendship of this family, so valuable at the beginning of my life
struggle in this new and strange country, has continued through all the
subsequent years.
"The experience gained in this school — ungraded, of mixed classes, boys
and girls of different ages — was ultimately of great service to me, giving
an insight into the special needs of California girls, differing even then
from their sisters on the Atlantic Coast.
"The term of teaching was brought to an abrupt close by an accident —
a fall from my horse, and the breaking of a collar-bone. This led to an
acquaintance with Drs. R. H. McDaniel and E. T. Wilkins, and other promi-
nent citizens of Marysville, the result of which acquaintance was the erection
of the Poston Seminary in that place.
"The following letter from Dr. McDaniel gives somewhat in detail the
preliminary steps by him, in view of my opening a school in Marysville.
and the considerations that rendered that city preferable to Nevada, of which
there had been some question :
" 'Marysville, July 9, 1857.
"Dear Miss Poston :
" T received yours of the 4th instant, and should have answered imme-
diately, but I wished time to make the necessary inquiries in relation to the
chance of your establishing a paying school in this place. From all I can
learn, you can start in with a school that will pay you $150 per month, with
the chance, if you give satisfaction (of which I have no doubt), of greatly
increasing your income. This place presents a better field for teaching than
Nevada, for the reason that it has more permanent inhabitants and the
winters are less severe. The snows of Nevada, which often last for five or
six months, must of necessity interrupt the progress of a school. Here-, if
you chose to do so, you can teach the whole year.
" T have made inquiries, and find that you can have ten music pupils
at once — Miss Thompson, the two daughters of Dr. Geller, Miss Nye, Miss
Magruder, Miss Selby, Miss Davis, Mrs. Brumagim and Nina. All the above
parties expect to pay ten dollars per month. They can be depended on.
" T have spoken to a builder here in regard to a room, and he agrees
to put up an academy, 20 feet by 40 feet, of brick, hard finish, with a good
well, etc., for $45 per month, the house to be situated on E Street, between
Seventh and Eighth, only three blocks from our house, good brick pavement
all the way. The house can be ready to go into, thirty days from the
time you say you will take it. Write me what you think of it, so that
I can gfive an answer.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 175
" 'I am not over sanguine in relation to any matter, as I know to some
extent the genus homo and know that they are little to be trusted : but at
the same time I feel assured that you can make a handsome support here and,
without misfortune, can lay up in a few years a competency for a rainy day.
" 'Respectfully your friend,
'"R. H. McDaniel.
" 'P. S. — I expect you will have to send this letter to my wife to read
for you, as no one else can read my handwriting.' "
"An answer expressing thanks for Dr. McDaniel's kindly interest, and
agreeing to the proposed arrangement with builder, was sent without delay.
The architect, Thomas Seaward (grandfather of Mrs. Elden Bryan of Sutter
County), had the building finished in thirty days. Friends, Mr. C. C. Good-
win and others, had the rooms fitted with necessary furniture, and in Sep-
tember the school was opened.
"One bright morning in September, 1857, a group of young girls with
some of their parents assembled in the just completed Seminary on E Street,
to greet the new teacher. The eager, inquiring faces come before me now,
and the surroundings — the large hall, the platform and desk and chair for
teacher, the scholars' desks, the blackboards, the little music room in the
rear — I see them all. Truly grateful for the kindly welcome, I felt yet more
deeply the confidence placed in me — a stranger and untried — by these par-
ents in entrusting me with the training of their daughters, the future women
of California — a work of vital importance to a State still in the formative
period. And I vowed on that first day, God helping, to be true to the best
interests of those given into my charge.
"As our numbers increased, the lack of yard room was keenly felt. A
change became imperative; and in 1863, counseled by friends, I bought the
Lindley property on D Street, and a smaller lot cornering on D and Sixth
Streets. On the latter a one-story brick building was erected for school pur-
poses, and the residence of Judge Lindley was occupied by the boarding-
school department, music classes, etc. Thus, in 1863, w r e found ourselves
located under our own 'vine and fig-tree' in as homelike a corner as was
ever dignified with the title of Seminary. The Marysville courthouse bound-
ing our view on one side, we felt ourselves under the special protection of
the officers of the law, and indeed our grateful acknowledgements are due
them for many, many kindnesses.
"With the enlargement of our premises, the school grew rapidly. The
rancher on the plains sent his daughters ; the miner in the foothills sent
his daughters, and his 'nuggets' ; towns far and near — Smartsville, Grass
Valley, Nevada, Downieville, Shasta, etc. — gave their girls and their good-
will. We grew apace."
State Reform School
Marysville, in 1859, became a contender for the State Reform School,
which an act of the legislature, in the session of that year, provided should be
instituted. Up to that time Marysville had been sadly neglected as regarded
State favors, and so was considered, by other places seeking the prize, as
having the preference.
The common council, at a meeting held on November 7, 1859, appointed,
as a committee. Aldermen Mann, Covillaud and Fowler, who, in conjunction
with a citizens' committee, were to attend to the interests of Marysville in
the matter. In December, 1859, the State commissioners reported that they
had selected a site for the school, the spot chosen being 100 acres of land
on Feather River, about five miles north of Marysville, and owned by Charles
Covillaud. This land had been surveyed and purchased by the city of Marys-
ville, and conveyed to the State by a deed executed December 6, 1859.
176 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
The next legislature passed an act for the erection of a building for a
State Reform School. Hon. William H. Parks framed, introduced, and
secured the passage of the bills necessary. At the same session John Lowery,
Nelson Wescoatt, and H. S. Foushee were elected a board of trustees, and
$30,000 were appropriated for the erection of buildings.
Although the appropriation fell short of the amount needed, three stories
and a basement were built, and the building was partly enclosed by a high
brick wall. The legislature of 1861 made a further appropriation of $25,000,
which served to make the interior arrangements more complete and finished.
During the erection of the building, Mr. Foushee died, and John C. Pelton
was appointed to fill the vacancy. He resigned shortly afterwards, and was
succeeded by John C. Fall.
The dedicatory exercises were held on December 2, 1861, and consisted
of addresses by John Lowery, president of the board of trustees, and Hon.
Jesse O. Goodwin. The superintendents were J. C. Pelton, who served for
twenty months ; George C. Gorham, for two years ; J. C. Sargent, for fifteen
months ; and H. S. Hoblitzell. The latter had been a teacher in the school,
and was elected superintendent in February, 1865. He served for a little
over three years, until the breaking up of the institution in May, 1868. The
trustees during the last years of the existence of the school were William
Hawley, William H. Parks, and Charles M. Gorham.
The only inmates were boys ; one girl was sent from Sacramento, but
there being no suitable accommodations, a place was found for her with a
family in Marysville. The largest roll at any one time numbered fifty-four.
There were two classes of inmates, those confined for criminal offenses,
and those placed there by parents or guardians for reformation. Religious
services were conducted by pastors of Marysville and visiting clergymen.
When great obstacles' were met in obtaining appropriations from the
legislature, the beginning of the end came to the institution. It is claimed
that the breaking up of the school was effected through the influence of
the managers of the San Francisco Industrial Home. Finally, the land and
buildings, by an act of the legislature, were donated to the city of Marys-
ville, and subsequently sold for $6000 to James Strain, the owner of the
adjoining land. After the removal of the boys, the premises were abandoned
and thieves entered, carrying off many valuable articles. After much delay,
the furniture, library and other property were conveyed to Marysville and
sold at auction, the nominal sum of $200 being realized.
During the superintendency of H. S. Hoblitzell, Mrs. Hoblitzell greatly
aided her husband by her voluntary assistance in giving moral and religious
training to the youths consigned to his keeping. Mrs. Hoblitzell is still
living, and is now making her home with a son in Seattle, Wash.
Knoxville Institute
At Brownsville, on the western slope of the Sierras, thirty-two miles
northeast from Marysville, was located an institution of learning in the late
seventies. It was under the proprietorship of Mr. and Mrs. M. Knox; and
Prof. E. K. Hill, who had served as principal of the Marysville High School,
was given the general management and control. The design was to make
it a school complete in itself, from the lowest primary instruction to a full
high school course, crowned with complete courses in the sciences and arts,
and in literature and the modern languages ; from which branched off short
courses in training for business, and preparation for college in Latin and
Greek. The departments of instruction included the preparatory, high school
and scientific, business, languages and music. Besides these, a normal course
had also been instituted. The Normal Institute was open for six weeks
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 177
during the summer vacation. Botanical analysis, botanical drawing, and
the collection of herbariums were included as specialties in the curriculum.
Eugene P. McDaniel, present judge of the superior court of Yuba
County, was a student in this institution.
Other Private Schools
Miss Jane Jones opened a school in 1870 in the Flathman Building,
southwest corner of D and Sixth Streets, on the site now occupied by the
residence of J. A. Bilhartz. In the fall of 1876, the school was moved to
the building formerly occupied by Miss Poston. Miss Jones continued this
school until chosen city librarian, a position she held until her death.
Mrs. S. M. Miles, widow of the first mayor of the city; opened a school
on Eighth Street opposite the Baptist Church in 1874. This was called
the Marysville Select School.
Mrs. L,. S. Southworth was another who conducted a private school in
Marysville. That was in the eighties and nineties. Her home and study- .
rooms were in a building on the east side of C Street, between Sixth and
Seventh Streets.
Mrs. Kate M. Wilkins also conducted a private school for a number of
years, making a specialty of preparing prospective teachers for their tests.
Encouraged by her success along this line, Mrs. Wilkins later removed to
San Francisco, where she still is engaged in teaching.
The Chinese send their children to the public schools, and also support,
at intervals, schools in their own section, where the reading and writing of
the Chinese language are taught.
THE COUNTY'S PRESENT SCHOOL SYSTEM
Marysville High School
The Marysville High School was organized by the board of education
on September 25, 1871. The first Monday in October was set for the open-
ing of the first term, in the building then located on the southeast corner of
E and Seventh Streets. This building was razed in recent years to make way
for the structure now known as the Herzog Apartments. Professor Drake
was chosen as the instructor. The plan of the school was to furnish a pre-
paratory course for the University of California, and to complete the studies
commenced in the grammar department. Twelve pupils entered for the
course. Of these, five graduated at the end of three years.
In this graduating class of 1874, the first to take part in high school com-
mencement exercises in Yuba County, were Corrinne Kimball, who became
the wife of Norman A. Rideout; Hattie Pratt, who became Mrs. A. J. Bin-
ney ; Albert Sheehan, who was editor of a Sacramento newspaper at his death
several years ago ; Charles J. Covillaud, son of one of the founders of Marys-
ville ; and Fred H. Greely, who has served as State Senator from this dis-
trict, and as district attorney of Yuba County. Greely, the only surviving
member of the class of 1874, is the present county auditor and recorder of
Yuba County. He has also served a term as Grand President of the Native
Sons of the Golden West.
During the fourth year, the number enrolled in the high school had in-
creased to twenty-seven. Only two pupils, young ladies, graduated that
year. The year 1875-1876 closed with the graduation of four pupils. On
the 8th of November, 1876, the school, and the community as well, met with a
severe loss in the death of Professor Drake. In the latter part of that month
Rev. E. H. AVard was appointed principal. He taught about two months, and
was then succeeded by Prof. E. K. Hill, a teacher of long experience and
178 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
much ability. At the end of the year 1877-1878, the school graduated three
young ladies.
During the fall term of 1878-1879, the school was, to a certain extent,
broken up by mixing its pupils with the senior classes of both grammar
schools. The teachers were Professor Hill and Miss R. A. Parshall. This
plan soon proved impracticable ; and at the beginning of the school term in
1880, the schools were again segregated and the high school classes were
placed under the charge of Prof. B. E. Hunt.
Growth of the City Schools
The schools of Marysville have since grown by leaps and bounds, due
to the influx of new people. In 1908 it became apparent that new buildings
were needed for the departments of both the grammar school and the high
school. A 1 bond issue of $80,000 was voted, and the present high school and
grammar school buildings were erected in the block bounded by F, G, Sixth
and Seventh Streets. The city owned the lots where the grammar- school
was built. Purchase was made of the site for the present high school. To
this plant there was added in 1922 a splendid gymnasium, which is daily
growing in popularity. On certain days the gymnasium is open to business
and professional men for exercise at basketball, indoor baseball, etc.
The faculty of the Marysville Union High School, which was established
as such in 1922, now consists of twenty-one teachers, with Prof. Curtis E.
Warren as the principal and as secretary of the board. Miss Louise M. AY.
Mayne is the vice-principal and head of the English department.
The present trustees of the high school are Dunning Rideout, A. W.
Lewis, Peter Engel, J. E. Strain, and J. J. Yore.
The grammar school has at present a force of twenty-two teachers.
Present Rural Schools
Outside of Marysville and Wheatland. Yuba County now supports
thirty-two rural schools in valley and on mountain, as follows : Bald Moun-
tain, Brophy's, Buckeye, Brown's Valley, Challenge, Clark, Cordua, Dob-
bins, Elizabeth, Frenchtown, Feather River Union, Goldfields, Greenville,
Hansonville, Indiana Ranch, Linda, Lone Tree, Long Bar, Marigold, New
England Union, Oregon House, Prairie, Peoria, Plumas, Rose Bar, Sharon
Valley, Camptonville, Spring Valley, Strawberry Valley, Sugar Loaf, Vir-
ginia, and Waldo. Of these, the schools at Dobbins, Rose Bar (Smartsville),
New England (Arboga), and Camptonville are branches of the Marysville
Union High School.
Miss Jennie Malaley is the present county superintendent of schools,
and is now serving her third term in office.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 179
CHAPTER XV
CHURCHES OF MARYSVILLE
The excitement in the East, on the receipt of the mining news from
California, affected the clergy as well as other people. Many resigned their
pastorates, joined in the throng, and were as eager as the others to gather a
goodly amount of the golden sands. There were those in the ministry, how-
ever, whose aim in seeking the Western land was to lend their talents to
the service of their Master. These threw aside all opportunities for speedily
gathering a rich competence, to labor in the best missionary field in the
world. The stories of their trials and tribulations are exceedingly interest-
ing, giving an idea of the condition of affairs during that pioneer period,
and also showing the lasting effect of early Christian culture.
The first religious exercises in Marysville, with the exception of those
conducted by the Padres, were held in the spring of 1850 by Rev. Washburne.
in a flatboat moored opposite the Plaza. He w r as followed by Rev. Joshua
Wilson, a Methodist clergyman, who succeeded in building a Methodist
Episcopal church. In the month of May, 1851, Rev. Wilson died, and was
succeeded by Rev. M. Burrell.
The bell in the Presbyterian church was rung- for the first time on Sun-
day, February 8, 1852. Its tones brought back memories of homes and fam-
ilies in the distant Eastern land, and caused many a tear to fall.
One of the pioneer ministers of Yuba County was Rev. S. V. Blakeslee,
mention of whom has already been made in an account of the early schools
of Marysville. He was ordained a minister of the Congregational denomina-
tion in Iowa, and left immediately for California pn his own responsibility
and expense. He arrived at Marysville on April 13, 1850, and the following
Sabbath commenced regular services in the unfinished upper part of a two-
story frame building owned by George Beach. The attendance on the first
morning was about thirty-five ; some were professors of religion, while the
rest were drawn there by mere curiosity. In the afternoon he held services
on the Plaza, where a large crowd assembled. All were exceedingly attentive
and respectful. During the second week, arrangements were made to preach
weekly in Marysville at eleven o'clock a. m. ; in the anticipative town of
Eliza, at two p. m. ; and in Yuba City at seven p. m. Services in accordance
with this program w r ere continued until the failure of the Eliza project, in the
month of May, after which services were held by Rev. Blakeslee at the Plaza
regularly every Sunday afternoon until the middle of June, when a local
Methodist minister took his place.
Several trips were made into the mountains and mining districts in the
summer of 1850; and a number of services were held by invitation in saloons
and gambling rooms. When the preacher was ready to commence, the money
and stakes lying on the tables were covered with the cloths, and all listened
attentively and with great respect. The Christian hymns familiar to most in
their Eastern homes were sung. Many times a generous contribution was
presented to the worthy preacher. After the benediction the tables were up-
covered and the play was resumed as lively as ever.
Another minister visited the field during the early part of Rev. Blakes-
lee's stay — Rev. F. Hunt, of San Francisco, who preached one Sabbath.
180 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
In September, 1850, Rev. W. W. Brier arrived, and subsequently or-
ganized a Presbyterian church. He was favorably received and efforts were
put forth to erect a building; but these proved unsuccessful for some time,
owing to the great expense and difficulty met in obtaining the lumber and
material necessary for its construction.
The attendance at the services increased with the growth of the popu-
lation. The Sabbath school organized in connection with Rev. Blakeslee's
labors was small, the attendance being perhaps eight or ten. There were but
few children, and elderly persons were too busy to attend. The minister
was the only teacher. Later, Rev. Blakeslee became editor-at-large of the
Pacific, a weekly religious paper published in San Francisco under the aus-
pices of the Congregational Church.
First Presbyterian Church
The following items in the early history of this church are taken from
the journal of Rev. W. W. Brier, who was the first Presbyterian minister of
the place, and who resided here with his young wife from September, 1850,
to March, 1851.
"September 7, 1850. — Traveled on the steamer Governor Dana from Sac-
ramento to Vernon, thirty-five miles, and twenty-eight miles in the stage
to Marysville. Stayed with Mr. Tay in a wholesale store, a tent on the
lower side of the Plaza. Tay is a partner of Deacon Leonard, of San Fran-
cisco ; had a letter to him, and he received me kindly ; is a pleasant young
fellow. He put up notices of preaching with all the zeal of an old elder.
"Sunday, September 8. — Preached under the shade of a large white oak
tree in the morning. All stores open, all the gambling houses in full blast,
teams of oxen and a train of mules loading goods. Went to the place ad-
vertised, and found about twenty men sitting on old wagons, ox-yokes and
logs. One said, as I looked about, 'Sit down; here's the place to hear preach-
ing.' I stood on a little eminence and commenced to sing a hymn. From
every direction men gathered with sad and worn faces, which told of
thoughts of loved ones far away, and remembrances of Sabbaths of rest.
All listened respectfully. At night I preached in the courthouse. This court-
house was away out of town on the plains, at the corner of E and Third
Streets. [Now the very center of Marysville. — Editor.] The only house
near it was a square, blue tent, six by ten feet, the headquarters of Rev. S. V.
Blakeslee, who traveled through the mines and preached. It had a bunk in
one end and some blue blankets. With great dignity and geniality, he
offered the use of his house free of charge until I could build. I declined,
as there was no shade."
The courthouse was a room, 20 by 30 feet, with the Masonic Hall above.
It had a good frame covered with rough boards a foot wide, no lining, rough
floor, and a full supply of backless benches. This was the place for all pub-
lic meetings and courts. Here, on November 24, 1850, was organized the
Presbyterian Church, consisting of nine members. Adam Farish and C. W.
McClanahan were chosen elders. Dr. A. H. Wilder was the most active man
in the church work. George C. Gorham, of political notoriety, took an inter-
est in the outside matters of the congregation. He was a young man of
steady habits. Judge Stephen J. Field, first alcalde of the city, was also a
frequent attendant. Judge E. D. Wheeler, a young lawyer, and his partner,
Jesse O. Goodwin, later author of the Goodwin Act prescribing prison merits
for felons, took an active part in the business matters of the church. John
Parks, the proprietor of the United States Hotel and a chief owner of the
town, also aided materially in getting up the church building, which was
erected on the corner of D and Third Streets in the spring of 1851. The sub-
scription was started on February 12. J. M. Ramirez, who lived in the orig-
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 181
inal adobe ranch house on the banks of the Yuba, made the first donation.
He was looked upon as a capitalist, and headed the list with $100. Dr. Rice
and Dr. Winters rendered good service in getting up the subscription. Louis
Cunningham, who later became a capitalist in San Francisco, had a bank
in a little zinc house on B Street ; he was a quiet but true friend of the
church and of the young minister. E. E. Hamilton, who was engaged in
the undertaking business later, rendered good service in singing. The citi-
zens, with few exceptions, donated to the building.
This house of worship was finished and dedicated on August 3, 1851,
Rev. T. Dwight Hunt of San Francisco preaching the sermon. It was a
wooden building, lined with cotton cloth and seated with pews, and would
accommodate 300 people. The cost was nearly $5000, with a debt of $700,
secured by subscriptions. These subscriptions were mostly lost as a result
of the first church fire, which occurred a month after the church was dedi-
cated. The fine bell now on the church, costing $650, was soon secured by
a special subscription. It was the first church bell ever heard in the upper
Sacramento Valley, and no event in the early history of that region occa-
sioned more good feeling than was evidenced on its arrival. This bell was
placed in a frame outside the church, and was thus saved when the building
was destroyed by fire.
The Sabbath school was organized on the 6th of April, 1851, with
twenty-seven children. The church attendance and membership increased
constantly by the influx of new families from the East. On February 1,
1851, Dr. Wilder and Thomas Ireland were ordained elders. In April, bv
the advice of his physicians, the pastor, Rev. AY. W. Brier, removed to the
coast near Centerville, Alameda County. Rev. I. H. Brayton succeeded him.
His health broke down in nine months, and he retired from the field. On
April 1, 1853, Rev. E. B. Walsworth took charge of the church.
On May 25, 1854, the church was burned. The trustees then sold the
lot at the corner of D and Third Streets, it having become valuable for
business purposes, purchased a lot on the corner of D and Fifth Streets, and
built a chapel thereon, at a cost of $6500.
In 1859 the size of the congregation demanded a more commodious audi-
torium, and the present imposing edifice was erected on the corner of D
and Fifth Streets. This structure cost $33,000. It was dedicated on October
14, 1860, the sermon being preached by Rev. E. S. Lacey.
The first trustees, appointed by Rev. W. W. Brier, were Dr. A. H.
Wilder, Dr. D. W. C. Rice, A. T. Farish, Thomas Ireland, and E. Hamilton.
The trustees under whose management the recent church edifice was erected
were : John A. Paxton, president ; S. W. Selby, vice-president ; H. S. Hob-
litzell, secretary-treasurer ; and Tohn H. Jewett, F. F. Lowe, Peter Decker,
W. K. Hudson, A. W. Cutts, and Dr. D. W. C. Rice.
The pastors who have successively presided over this charge are : Revs.
W. W. Brier, I. H. Brayton, E. B. Walsworth, J. H. Brodt, W. W. Mac-
Comber, W. McKaig, James Matthews, P. Lynett Carden, Lamont, Ander-
son, Lundy, Garver, Wilson, R. C. McAdie, and B. F. Butts.
The congregation of the church, at the last annual session, elected heads
as follows : Elders, three-year term, James Morrison and F. L. DeArmond ;
trustees, H. M. Smythe, Willard Roberts, George Graves, L. L. Freeman,
W. Morrison, James Thomson, H. Harter, H. Humphreys, and D. Mahan.
Methodist Episcopal Church
The first Methodist quarterly conference in this section of the State
was held in Yuba City, June 15, 1850, by Rev. Isaac Owen, presiding elder
of the Feather River district. He was superintendent of missions, this dis-
182- HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
trict being then under the jurisdiction of the Oregon mission conference.
In the summer of 1850. the people of this denomination then living in Marys-
ville united and built a small church on the west side of D Street, between
Third and Fourth Streets. In this meeting house was held the first quarterly
conference in Marysville, the third Saturday in September, 1850, at which
time the Rev. Joshua Wilson was assigned to the pastorate.
Rev. Wilson died in the spring of 1851, and was succeeded by Rev.
M. Burrell. The successive pastors from, that date are : Revs. J. W.
Brier, M. C. Briggs, H. C. Benson, D. A. Dryden, M. C. Briggs, J. A.
Bruner, J. D. Blaine, William J. McClay, David Deal, William Grove Deal,
J. B. Hill, C. V. Anthony, J: N. Martin, E. Bannister, J. L. Burchard, C. E.
Rich, William McPhetters, T. L. Treffern, Martin Miller, S. H. Todd, J. A.
Vananda, W. M. Woodward, E. R. Willis, J. P. Macauley, C. H. Beechgood,
Thomas Filben, C. J. Chase, W. M. Woodward, Fred Sheldon, W. C. Rob-
bins, Thomas H. Nichols, Sylvester J. Buck, R. L. Rowe, and E. H. Mackay.
The last-named, at the time this volume was being compiled, was in the third
year of his pastorate.
The first officers of the church were George M. Hanson, Joel Burlin-
game, and Benjamin Eandis. The trustees were Hiram Palmer and George
M. Hanson ; stewards, Arthur C. Barber, Hiram Palmer, Joel Burlingame,
and Benjamin Landis. In the late seventies the following were trustees and
stewards : Justus Greely, William Gummow, J. F. Eastman, George Crowell,
E. E. Meek, Newton Seawell, and S. L. Frost.
The present church edifice, at the corner of E and Fourth Streets, which
was badly wrecked in a fire during the summer of 1922, was, when first
built, a commodious frame structure, with a basement for use by the Sunday
school. It was erected in 1852-1853, at a cost of about $26,000, the amount
having been raised by subscriptions among the citizens. The basement of
this church was one of Marysville's first schoolrooms. Here was held the
first public school in the city; and here also the Marysville Eclectic Institute
was conducted by Rev. James H. Bristow and lady, as principals. At the
present time the trustees are planning to sell the property, which is in
the line of business progression, the "proceeds, and more, to be used in the
construction of a modern building on a lot which has been procured at the
southwest corner, of D and Eighth Streets. Work is expected to commence
in the spring of 1924.
St. Joseph's Catholic Church
"The first missionaries of the Roman Catholic denomination in Marys-
ville were Fathers Acker, Anderson, and Ingraham, who labored here in
1851 and 1852. In September, 1852, Father Peter Magganotta, a member
of the religious, order of Passionists, commenced his labor in the formation
of a church. Chiefly from his own purse, he erected a frame church, 32 by
43 feet in size, and of one story. It stood on the north side of Seventh Street,
between C and D Streets, near the present parochial residence. For his
piety and genuine goodness, "Father Peter," as he was always called, was
endeared not only to his own flock, but to all who knew him.
The church was dedicated on March 20, 1853, and served as a place of
worship two years, during which time Father Peter was busy in the erection
of the beautiful cathedral which now stands as a monument to his energy
and zeal. The corner-stone of the cathedral was laid September 16, 1855,
by Archbishop J. S. Alemany, assisted by Fathers Magganotta, Dominica
Blava, and Blasius Raho. Toward the construction of the church many
young men, recent arrivals from the old countries, such as Ireland and Ger-
many, contributed free labor, where they had not the funds to give.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 183
In 1861, the diocese of Grass Valley was formed, with the cathedral at
Marysville, and Rt. Rev. Eugene O'Connell became bishop.
In 1865, an addition of forty feet was made to the west end of the
cathedral, and the tower and interior were finished. The structure covers
an area nearly a half block in depth, and has a frontage of sixty feet. The
tower is 100 feet in height.
Among the pastors who have since served are Revs. Father Thomas
Grace, who later became bishop of the Sacramento Diocese ; Rev. J. J. Callan,
who died in December, 1887 ; the late Rev. Matthew Coleman ; and Rev.
Patrick Guerin, who is the present head. Rev. Matthew Coleman, who was
pastor for about thirty years, is deserving of special mention for the zeal
with which he worked, and the popularity which he gained. He took spe-
cial delight in the upkeep of the property, and had always uppermost in his
mind the welfare of the College of Notre Dame, at which institution of
learning many who now are grandfathers and grandmothers were pupils
when Father Coleman took charge of the parish.
One of the first moves by Rev. Father Guerin, on taking- up the Marys-
ville mission in 1917, was to raze the parochial residence that had served
from pioneer days and erect in its stead a modern home for the priests, at
a cost of $30,000. This property is a credit to the Catholics of the community
and a monument to its promoter. The new home was completed in 1921.
In the center plot of the Marysville Catholic Cemetery consecrated as
the burying ground of the priests who served this mission in their lifetime,
either as pastor or as assistant pastor, now rest the remains of the following
"soggarth aroons" : Rev. J. J. Callan, pastor, who died December 5, 1887;
Rev. Matthew Coleman, pastor, who died April 11, 1917; and the following
assistants : Rev. Hugh E. McCabe, Rev. F. Florian, Rev. J. O'Sullivan,
Rev. T. Crinion, Rev. P. Farrelly, Rev. T. Petit, and Rev. F. Schweninger.
The basement of the Catholic Church was in early days, before the
erection of the Boys' School at Seventh and C Streets, used as classrooms
for the boy students of the parish. A number of the present-day prominent
citizens of Marysville and Sutter County received the first rudiments of
their education in the church basement.
The Baptist Church
In 1854 the Baptists organized a church in Marysville. Rev. O. B.
Stone preached in the City Hall in January of that year, thus sowing the first
seed for the later work of the denomination. An edifice was built in 1864
on a lot located at the corner of High and Eighth Streets. This church is
no longer in existence.
Rev. Charles Satchell took up the work of this denomination in Marys-
ville in 1856, and the society of the Mt. Olivet Baptist Church was formed
the same year with Rev. Satchell as pastor. AVilliam Bland, Cupid Blue,
and Samuel T. Brewster were the trustees and deacons. In 1857 a sub-
stantial brick church was erected on the corner of Sixth and High Streets,
which still stands. It cost about $5000. Previous to the occupancy of the
church, services were held at a house in Maiden Lane, now Oak Street.
African M. E. Church
This society was organized in 1854 on California Alley, now Chestnut
Street, at Fifth. The first pastor was Rev. D. P. Stokes. G. A. Cantine,
D. W. Sands, and Samuel Ringol were the first trustees.
The church was built in 1864, and was destroyed by fire on July 2, 1921.
It is now being rebuilt.
184 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
St. John's Episcopal Church
Religious services were held in Marysville in November, 1854, by Rt.
Rev. W. I. Kip, bishop of the diocese of California. Steps were soon taken
to form a society, which was accomplished on April 30, 1855. The following
were the first wardens and vestrymen : Stephen J. Field and William P.
Thompson, wardens; William Hawley, John T. Reins, Charles S. Fairfax,
Ira A. Eaton, S. W. Van Wyck, W. W. Smith, J. A. Monsell, and Charles
H. Hedges, vestrymen. The first rector was Rev. E. W. Hager. Services
were held in the City Hall until the church was ready for occupation.
The church edifice, built at the corner of Fifth and E Streets, is a brick
building. It was completed in December, 1855, costing about $7000. The
successive rectors of the parish were Rev. E. W. Hager, until 1856: Rev.
F. W. Hatch, to 1857; Rev. E. D. Cooper, to 1858; Rev. George B. Taylor,
to 1860; Rev. Henry O. G. Smeathman, to 1861; Rev. Hannibal Goodwin, to
1863; Rev. AVilliam H. Stoy, to 1865; and Rev. A. A. McAllister, to 1872.
Then for a year the parish was without a rector, the pulpit being supplied
by Bishops Scott and Kip, and Revs. Dr. Hatch and Dr. Hill. In 1873,
Rev. E. H. Ward was in charge. Rev. Stoy returned in 1877. Succeeding
him, have been Rev. Mark Rifenbark and Rev. A. E. Butcher. Since the
succession of Rev. Butcher to the pastorate, a movement has been started
to erect a new church edifice at the corner of Eighth and D Streets, the
residence property of the late A<V. T. Ellis having been secured as a site.
The church already has secured the building known as Guild Hall, at the
rear of this property.
German Methodist Church
For a time there was a German Methodist Church on the lot at the
corner of E and Seventh Streets, in the building later occupied as Mary-
ville's first high school. The congregation was founded in 1864, and the
church was built at a cost of $2000. The first pastor of the church was
Rev. G. H. Bolinger, who was succeeded by Rev. Martin Guhl. Upon his
departure, in 1870, the church was left without a regular pastor until 1874,
when the conference sent Rev. H. Brueck to the charge. This church has
since disbanded.
Church of the Immaculate Conception
The Catholics of Marysville of German origin maintained a church
edifice of their own building, for a period of about twenty years, at the
northwest corner of F and Eighth Streets. They . organized in 1871, and
dedicated the building, a frame structure, in May, 1874. Its cost was $4000.
The first priest in charge was Rev. Father Herde. The next was Rev.
Father John Meilor, whose residence was situated near the church. Father
Bucholzer served as the last pastor of the church, the Germans deciding to
change their place of worship to St. Joseph's Church, where they still attend
devotions and take an active part in church affairs.
First Christian Church
The First Christian Church of Marysville was organized in 1879. The
first meetings were held in the courthouse. The late W. G. Murphy was a
prime mover in the establishment of this congregation, having been a mem-
ber in Columbia, Mo., before his trip across the plains to California.
The congregation has now so far gained in numbers as to tax the
capacity of the church edifice, which is located at the corner of Fifth and
Orange Streets.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 185
First Church of Christ, Scientist
In recent years, Marysville has seen the organization of the First
Church of Christ, Scientist. Meetings at present are held in the Odd
Fellows Hall each Wednesday evening and Sunday forenoon.
A lot has been purchased by the congregation at the southwest corner
of F and Seventh Streets, with the intention of building a meeting place
there when sufficient funds are secured.
CHAPTER XVI
FRATERNAL, SOCIAL, AND LITERARY ORGANIZATIONS
In the palmy and prosperous days of Marysville, the secret and benevo-
lent orders flourished, and their influence was felt among all classes of
citizens. The stranger arriving sick, moneyless, and friendless, found among
the members of his old order hands and hearts ready to alleviate his suffer-
ings and to relieve his destitution. Multitudes of instances of this kind
occurred in the early days, and it is no wonder that now, in more quiet
times, the old pioneer regards his order with almost the reverence and
devotion due to a parent. In later years new organizations have sprung
up, and with wonderful rapidity are gaining in membership and importance.
The Masons
A Masonic lodge was established in Marysville several months prior
to the formation of the Grand Lodge of California, under the following
circumstances : Dr. J. R. Crandall of Peoria, 111., upon deciding to come
to California in 1849, applied to Most Worshipful Grand Master Lavalle
of Springfield, 111., for a dispensation by which, as Deputy Grand Master,
he could work in his journeyings as a traveling ■ lodge, wherever Masons
enough could be gathered together ; he was finally to locate a lodge at
some locality that, in his judgment, was able to support it. The dispensa-
tion was granted in March, 1849, and Crandall proceeded on his journey
to the far West. In the spring of 1850, being then in Marysville, Crandall
was desirous of locating a lodge here under the Illinois dispensation, and
issued a general notice to all Master Masons who were in town, stating his
intentions. Pursuant to this notice, about thirty Master Masons assembled
and organized a lodge, constituting J. R. Crandall Worshipful Master;
A. O. Garrett, Senior Warden, and W. Moffett, Junior Warden.
Marysville Lodge, No. 9, F. & A. M.
On May 1, a short time after the formation of the lodge, Crandall
removed to Trinity River, leaving the lodge in the care of the Senior
Warden. When the Grand Lodge of California was organized, the lodge
in Marysville reported its proceedings under the Illinois dispensation, and
petitioned for a charter, which was granted them on November 27, 1850,
under the title of Marysville Lodge, No. 9, F. & A. M. Subsequently to this,
the lodge reported its work under the dispensation to the Grand Lodge
of Illinois, and transmitted the proper dues. The lodge was held for some
time in a tent, near the corner of Fourth and E Streets.
Dr. J. R. Crandall, the father of Masonry in Yuba County, received the
degrees in 1836 in Pekin Lodge, No. 27, A. F. & A. M., of Illinois. In 1842 he
was a charter member of Temple Lodge, No. 47, Peoria, 111. In 1850 he
186 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
established Marysville Lodge, No. 9; and in 1851 he was a member of Lafay-
ette Lodge, No. 13, of Nevada City, Cal.
On December 13, 1864, the following were installed as officers of Marys-
ville Lodge, No. 9, F. & A. M.. E. T. Wilkins, W. M. ; George I. Bourne,
S. W. ; P. W. Winkley, J. W, ; George A. Foulk, treasurer ; M. W. Peyser,
secretary ; H. H. Rhees, S. D. ; W. L. Williams, J. D. ; and Charles Raish, tyler.
Marysville Masonic Hall
The Masonic Hall Association of Marysville was organized on September
18, 1863, with a capital stock of $25,000, divided into 500 shares of $50 each.
The affairs of the association were managed by a board of trustees elected by
the stockholders. The first board of trustees was composed of the following:
H. H. Rhees, T. W. McCreadv, Peter Decker, C. G. Bockius, D. E. Knight,
W. H. Hartwell, and W. L. Williams.
The contract for the present Masonic Building was let October 30, 1863,
to W. C. Swain, $21,500 being the contract price; and on December 26, 1864,
the trustees took possession of the structure. The hall ever since has been
on the third floor, and is used by the Masonic societies as a lodge room. The
second floor is now used for offices and living apartments, and the ground floor
is rented for stores.
It was on New Year's Day, 1864, that the laying of the corner-stone took
place. The ceremony was of a most imposing and interesting character and
drew a large audience of interested parties outside of the fraternity member-
ship. The program announced by the committee as the order of the day was
executed to the letter, and everything passed off smoothly. The parade was
in charge of Grand Marshal' E. Hamilton, assisted by Aids L. B. Ayer and
James Moore. Marysville Commandery, No. 7, Knights Templar, marshaled
by Charles Raish, formed the escort, followed by the Marysville Brass Band.
The Blue Lodge was next in line, followed by the Chapter, and finally by
members of the Grand Lodge.
At the site, Charles G. Bockius, president of the Marysville Masonic Hall
Association, invited the Grand Master, Judge William C. Belcher, to proceed
with the ceremony. The Grand Master then delivered an address on behalf
of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, following which the stone
was laid : Assistants in the ceremony were : Charles E. Filkins, Deputy
Grand Master; Ebenezer Lane, Senior Grand Warden; Dr. S. J. S. Rogers,
Junior Grand Warden ; E. Hamilton, Grand Marshal ; and Ben E. I. Ely,
orator of the d.ay. In the evening, beginning at 9:30 o'clock, a grand ball
was held in the Marysville theater, which was attended by the best people in
the community. The dedication of the building took place December 27, 1864.
The DeLong Collection
A relic of which the Masons of Marysville are proud is an American flag
brought to this country from Japan by Charles Egbert DeLong, who in 1869
was appointed minister to Japan by President U. S. Grant. The flag is the
banner which was carried by DeLong's enibassy during his travels into the
interior of Japan, and is the first foreign flag ever carried in that country.
- A full coat of mail, used in the wars of Japan over 700 years before, is
also in the collection which DeLong presented to the Marysville Masonic
fraternity, together with several bronze candlesticks.
DeLong was born in Beekmanville, Dutchess County, N. Y., on August
13, 1826. He served in the California legislature in 1857 and 1858, and again
in 1860 and 1862.
Corinthian Lodge, No. 9, F. & A. M.
In addition to Marysville Lodge, No. 9, two other subordinate lodges
were formed — Yuba Lodge, No. 39, and Corinthian Lodge, No. 69. All are
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 187
now merged in Corinthian Lodge, which has preserved the first number given
a Marysville lodge — No. 9.
The present officers of Corinthian Lodge, No. 9, are : D. D. Johnston,
W. M. ; H. T. Hosford. S. W. ; H. R. Hastings, J. AY. ; P. T. Smith, treasurer;
L. B. Wilcoxon. secretary; E. J. McCready, chaplain; AY. F. Roberts, S. D. ;
Chester O. Gates, J. D. ; J. R. Murray, marshal ; M. N. Jacobson. S. S. ; Wil-
liam Simmons, J. S. ; and J. R. Oates, tyler.
The lodge recently proposed a new asylum on the site of the old one, but
the movement has not as yet taken definite shape.
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
The first lodge in Marysville to inculcate among her citizens the princi-
ples of Odd Fellowship was established in the early fifties. A meeting of Odd
Fellows was called on Saturday evening, January 24, 1852, at the recorder's
office, corner of Second and D Streets, for the purpose of forming a lodge.
The order grew apace, and the Odd Fellows Hall Association was organ-
ized on March 24, 1860, by Levi Hite, Charles L. Thomas, A. J. Mason,
Charles Bockius, William K. Hudson, E. Hamilton, J. AY Winter, George
Blust. J. M. Matthews, and George Merritt. The first board of directors
consisted of four members: Levi Hite, president; J. M. Matthews, vice-
president ; A. J. Mason, treasurer ; and Charles L. Thomas, secretary. The
building at present standing at Third and D Streets was erected in 1860 at
an expense of $32,000.
The lodge library was inaugurated on a small scale about 1858, by con-
tributions of books from members of two lodges, the first donation being
made by George Merritt. In 1864 the lodge determined to make it a valuable
library, and to that end purchased 500 volumes of standard works of history,
science and fiction. The books were selected with great care.
In recent years the Odd Fellows Building has undergone various altera-
tions, among the most important of which are an enlarged banquet-room and
an addition on the east side.
Independent Order of B'nai B'rith
Mirriam Lodge, No. 56, Independent Order of B'nai B'rith, was organ-
ized on the 5th of May, 1864, with the following charter members : S.
Rosenthal, M. Marcuse, H. Brown, A. Shreyer, S. Lev}-, J. S. Borman, A. Suss,
B. Rosenberg. L. Meininger, Louis Goldman, A. Englander, G. Cohn, H.
AYagner, M. AY. Peyser, A. Joseph, R. Katz, M. Shreyer, H. Shreyer, S. Hoch-
stadter, and A. Hochstadter. The highest number of members at any time
was sixty-two. The lodge met at the corner of Third and High Streets twice
every month.
Ancient Order of Hibernians
The objects of this order are fraternity and benevolence. The order has
been very strong in the United States, and its membership has been confined
largely to citizens of Hibernian descent. The lodge in Marysville was
organized in May, 1869, with the following members : Dan Donohoe, Patrick
Corr, Miles Flynn, Daniel Farrell, Thomas Farrell, Michael Fitzgerald, James
Clark, John AA'alsh, Thomas C. Martin, Peter Muldoon, J. Coen, John Burns,.
M. Lavelle, Owen Loftus, Michael O'Connor, John T. Lydon, John Donovan,
John McGuire. and John Colford. The first officers were: M. Fitzgerald,
president; John- Colford, vice-president; John AValsh. corresponding sec-
retary ; Dan Donohoe, financial secretary ; and Patrick Corr, treasurer.
The local society at one time had 125 members. Marysville no longer
maintains a branch of this order.
188 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
Marysville Lodge, No. 783, B. -P. O. E., is another fraternal organization
of Marysville owning its own home. The lodge was instituted on June 21,
1902, with a charter roll of thirty-six members, and for nine years held its
meetings in Jeffersonian Hall, corner High and Third Streets, on the third
floor of the J. R. Garrett Company building.
The organization ceremonies were conducted by Grass Valley Lodge,
No. 583, and Nevada City Lodge, No. 518, a few residents of Marysville then
being members of these lodges. The first officers were : Exalted Ruler.
Dr. J. H. Barr ; Esteemed Leading Knight, R. E. Whitney ; Esteemed Loyal
Knight, Robert F. Watson ; Lecturing Knight, M. T. Brittan ; secretary,
W. M. Strief; treasurer, Dr. J. L. Sullivan; tyler, Herman E. Berg; Esquire,
J. H. Marcuse; Inner Guard, Espie A. AVhite ; chaplain, Wallace Dinsmore ;
organist, D. L. Sharp ; trustees, Chris C. Rubel ; A. C. Irwin, and G. W.
Harney. The jurisdiction of this lodge covers Colusa, Arbuckle, Williams,
Hammonton, Lincoln, Gricllev, and part of Biggs. Its membership now
(1923) numbers 650.
The Elks' Home
It was on Saturday evening, March 4, 1911, that the Elks' Home of
Marysville was dedicated. In the neighborhood of 1000 visitors flocked to
the city to attend the ceremonies, which were conducted by Dr. J. S. J. Conlin
of San Francisco Lodge, assisted by the officers of Chico Lodge.
Four years before, the home was conceived by the lodge. The first
step taken toward its realization was the purchase of the lot, 40 by 160 feet,
from Frank Atkins, for $10,000. In a little over a year the lodge had paid
the debt; and at a meeting held March 26, 1910, in less than an hour the
money was subscribed by the members to insure the building. The Marys-
ville Elks' Home, a corporation, was formed, with the following directors :
J. K. Kelly, W. T. Ellis, Jr., Richard Belcher, G. AY. Hall, C. C. Hampton,
M. N. Sheldon, Herman E. Berg, R. E. Bevan, Thomas F. Giblin, Henry
Berg, Charles Mathews, Frank Atkins, George E. Wapple, A. W. Lewis,
Matt Arnoldy, and Floyd Seawell. Richard Belcher was made president of
the board, and W. E. Langdon was made secretary.
The plans submitted by Parker & Kenyon were adopted, and the con-
tract was awarded to C. F. Palm, a Marysville contractor of those days.
The building has practically four stories, with a roof garden. The lower
floor is leased for stores, and the remainder of the building is retained for
the exclusive use of the Elks. The second floor is fitted up in an elaborate
manner, containing a lounging room, a reading room, a lodge room and a
banquet room. The third floor is devoted entirely to club features, there
being a splendidly equipped billiard room and cafe, with a dainty grill room,
all furnished with the same degree of elegance displayed in the rooms of the
second floor. The roof garden is very popular with the members during the
summer months. Each floor is served with an electric elevator, while the
entire building is heated by steam. A modern kitchen, with all the necessary
equipment, is installed for use of the grill room and banquet quarters. On
Saturday evening, February 28, 1911, the building' was formally turned over
to the lodge by the contractor.
Foresters of America
On AVednesday, May 7, 1913, during a session of the Grand Court of
California, Court Pride of Yuba, No. 34, Foresters of America, became the
fourth lodge organization in Marysville to own its own building, which
stands on E Street, east side, between Third and Fourth Streets, adjacent
to the rear of the Masonic Asylum. Theretofore the lodge held its meetings
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 189
in the hall in the Empire Block, corner Second and Oak Streets. Like the
E-lks, the Foresters formed a corporation for hall purposes.
The corner-stone of this building was laid by the grand officers of
California, following a parade and the planting of a tree in Napoleon Square,
a public park of the city. That night there was a grand ball in Armory
Hall, a block away. Armory Hall, which has since been razed, stood on the
lots now used by the Sacramento Northern Railroad for a freight yard.
Knights of Columbus
Marysville Council, No. 1869, Knights of Columbus, was organized on
Sunday, April 22, 1917. Owing to the death, a week previously, of Rev.
Matthew Coleman, the pastor of St. Joseph's Church, who had been active in
bringing about the organization of the Council, there was no outward show,
though many members of the order from a distance were visitors.
The first officers of the Council were : Grand Knight, Matt Arnoldy ;
Deputy Grand Knight, James Kenney; Chancellor, Leo A. Smith; recorder,
Louis F. Albrecht ; financial secretary, Gus T. Arnoldy ; treasurer, Raymond
J. Flannery ; AVarden, Leo Willett ; Inside Guard, Hugh Grant; Outside
Guard, James Barrett ; trustees, Frank M. Booth, J. A. Queenan, and Thomas
Mathews ; chaplain, Rev. William Coen.
In the first year the Council had three class initiations. Each year since,
there has been an average of one class initiation. The membership now
exceeds 200. notwithstanding the organization of a Council at Colusa
reduced the roll by forty. The present Grand Knight is Dr. R. F. Gilbride.
Other Fraternal Orders
The German residents of Marysville supported for many years a Turn-
verein Society and the Liederkranz. The Turnverein owned their own hall,
which was situated on the lots now occupied by the Foresters' Hall.
Other fraternal orders which have branches in Marysville at the present
time are: The Native Sons of the Golden West, the Native Daughters of
the Golden West, Companions of the Forest, Red Men, Maccabees, Moose,
Independent Order of Foresters, Woodmen of the World, Rebekahs, Eastern
Star, Catholic Women of America, and Sciots.
SOCIETIES AND CLUBS
Marysville Pioneer Society
Marysville's Society of Pioneers was established in 1869. Thirty-three
old residents assembled at the City Hall on February 20, 1869, and organized
a society by adopting a constitution and by-laws, and electing the following
officers : G. N. Swezy, president ; James T. Dickey and James G. Dowell,
vice-presidents; J. B. Leaman, recording secretary; William G. Murphy,
corresponding secretary ; William H. Hartwell, treasurer ; Dr. S. M. Miles,
Dr. Eli Teegarden, James Williamson, J. C. Smith, John Keller, A. W. Cutts,
and J. A. Murray, directors. The society was composed of native Califor-
nians, foreigners and citizens of the United States resident in California
prior to the 9th of September, 1850. and their male descendants eighteen
years of age or over, who were entitled to all the privileges and benefits of
the society. The society was called the Marysville Pioneer Society; and its
objects were to cultivate the social virtues of its members, to collect and
preserve information connected with the early settlement of the country,
and to perpetuate the memory of those early pioneers whose sagacity, enter-
prise and love of independence induced them to settle in the wilderness and
become the germ of a new State.
Preserved in the archives of the Packard Free Library are the photo-
graphs of many of these brave Argonauts who builded up Marysville and
190 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
the surrounding' country. The writer recognizes in the collection the faces
of the men who trod Marysville's streets when he was a boy, and made it
the busy mart it then was. Here are the names : A. W. Oakley, A. W.
Cutts, James T. Dickey, Henry F. Hyde, Francis Hamlin, Thomas Dean,
loseph Lask, Tartan Smith, G. W. Nickleson, J. E. Brown, ]. V. McMurtry,
E. C. Ross, W. A. McLaughlin, Jackson Arndt, Dr. C. C. Harrington, W. H.
Perdue, Phil W. Keyser, William T. Blivens. C. Cockrill, G. P. Russell,
E. Hamilton, A. J. Lucas, Dr. S. T- S. Rogers, Joseph H. Kern, C. T- Covil-
laud, A. G. Turner, William M. Bell. T. C. Chase, Herndon Barrett, A. S.
Noyes, Henrv Heitman. Lvman Ackley, O. P. Stidger, J. D. Dow, A. P.
Willey, L. T. Crane, C. G.' Clark, AY. K. McClintock, H. R. D. Townsend,
Edward Hooper, Dr. C. E. Stone, C. Darmstadt, W. G. Murphy, L. B. Lea-
man, J. C. Smith, A. J. Batchelder, E. H. Thurston, Stephen Eaton, G N.
Swezy, John Keller, J. G. Briggs, Charles Covillaud, Sr., E. W. Mull, A. J.
Cumberson, Benjamin Bigelow, L. H. Babb, Eli Teegarden, George Merritt,
L. R. Sellon, S. S. Brewster, J. W. Moore, AY. H. Hartwell, William Rack-
erby, D. P. Newbert, J. C. Cornell, T- AY. Hunter, C. P. Hunt, AY K. Hudson,
Dr. S. M. Miles, and G. Katzenstein.
The society at one time had a membership of 135. Today it is no
longer in existence, all the members having either passed on or removed
from this community.
Marysville Art Club
The Marysville Art Club, a section of the Bi-County Federation of
AVomen's Clubs, is now past ten years of age. Mrs. Charles McConnaughy,
the first president of the organization, once wrote of the society as follows :
"It causes a smile when one thinks of the first meeting of the Marys-
ville Art Club and its mushroom growth, a quick development from a group
of women studying art, into a federated club with its various sections.
'YVhy did we organize? Marysville was ready for just such a club, but
it needed the report of the guns before it mobilized. The report came when
a group of pictures by Rosa Bonheur was being exhibited through the State.
If Marysville had such an organized club, it would be an easy matter to
bring the exhibit, as well as others, to our town. AA r e were most fortunate
in not having to search for a leader. We had with us a most efficient, experi-
enced and willing one. All we had to do was to get together. AVe did so.
"A committee called a public meeting of all those interested in the study
of art, to be held in the Packard Library, January 4, 1913. AA r e expected at
the most about a dozen who would be interested in this work ; but to our
delight thirty members were enrolled, and within three months our mem-
bership increased to 135. This immediately changed the nature of the anti-
cipated study club into the formal club that it now is.
"We were too late to have the Rosa Bonheur exhibit ; but we did get
something infinitely greater and better — a most enthusiastic, ambitious and
growing club."
The Art Club brings to Marysville some of the best talent attainable in
the dramatic line, as also speakers of note and musicians of wide repute.
The Shakespeare Club
The oldest literary organization in Yuba County is now the Shakespeare
Club of Marysville. This honor at one time belonged to the Jeffersonian
Lyceum, which disbanded several years ago. The club is now nearing its
thirtieth anniversary.
The forming of the Shakespeare Club originated with Mrs. Martin
Sullivan, who now has a country home near Yuba City, Sutter County.
During the first year of its existence, the club was under the direction of
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 191
Prof. Herbert Miller, then principal of the Marysville High School. Under
his direction a foundation was laid and further work was carefully planned.
At first the club accepted the hospitality of each member in turn, as
many of the local clubs continue to do : but later Mrs. David Powell graci-
ously invited the membership to meet with her. Thereafter, until Mrs.
Powell discontinued her residence in Marysville, her heart and home were
open to the members for the regular Tuesday evening meetings. Friendship
and loyalty are the only dues in this organization. The club is made up of
congenial friends whose literary talents are devoted to the earnest study of
the plays and poems of the peerless Bard of Avon, from whom the club
takes its name.
CHAPTER XVII
MILITARY AND AFTER-WAR ORGANIZATIONS
At the present time Yuba County has nothing in the way of militia organ-
izations save those maintained by the ex-service men of the AA'orld War. In
the early part of the year 1923. there was a movement instituted by Capt.
Seth Millington. Jr., captain of the National Guard company in Colusa, and
head of the American Legion in California, to establish a company of the
National Guard in Marysville. There were high prospects for the creation of
the command, when word came one day that the matter must be indefinitely
deferred because of a lack of State funds caused by a policy of retrenchment
adopted by Gov. Friend W. Richardson, who was endeavoring to make good
on his campaign promises to reduce the cost of State government. In the
spring of 1924 a commission was given for the formation of a National Guird
company in Yuba City.
From their earliest days, however, Marysville and Yuba County have
possessed the military spirit. For twenty years prior to 1880, there were
only two brief intervals during which there was not a martial organization
of some kind. During the Civil War. two large and well-drilled companies
were maintained in the city. These not only were of value at home as a
safeguard against disorder, but also furnished from their ranks a great many
disciplined soldiers to fight for the old flag in the field. A pioneer recalls that
during the Civil AA'ar the mountains of Yuba County provided a military
company. It was at the Oregon House that this command always rallied.
They were called the Yuba Mountaineers. Browns Valley, Camptonville
and Bullard"s Bar also had military organizations about this time. These
were known as the Hooker Guards, the Bullard's Guards, and the Yuba Light
Infantry. These four companies are more fully described in the following
chapter, in connection with the discussion of the towns named.
In 1851. Brig.-Gen. S. M. Miles was in command of the 1st Brigade, 1st
Division, California Militia, with his headquarters at Marysville ; C. S. Kasson
was his assistant adjutant-general. On September 9, 1851. by General Order
Nil 2. Samuel B. Mulford was appointed judge advocate on the staff of the
brigadier-general, with rank of major of infantry. E. AY. Roberts was, by the
same order, appointed assistant surgeon, with the rank of captain of infantry.
Below is given a brief account of the various military organizations that
have existed in the county.
192 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
The Yuba Guards
This company was organized on June 9, 1855, with a membership of sixty-
five young men, the elite of the city of Marysville. The officers were: M. D.
Dobbins, captain; John F. Snow, first lieutenant; F. W. Taylor and W. H.
Wickersham, second lieutenants ; J. H. Cowan, brevet lieutenant ; W. C.
Burnett, first sergeant; Thomas Seaward, second sergeant; F. W. Shelden,
third sergeant; D. B. Wolf, fourth sergeant; D. J. AVilkins, fifth sergeant;
William B. Fatham, Jr., secretary; and J. W. Moore, treasurer.
During its existence of several years, this company received $520 appro-
priation from the board of supervisors for armory rent, etc.
Marysville Rifles
This company was organized with about forty men, on October 31, 1859,
and continued in a flourishing condition until the close of the Civil War.
The company at times numbered as high as eighty men, but was constantly
being reduced by members going to the front. The first officers were: M. D.
Dobbins, captain ; Theodore D. Coult, first lieutenant ; and Emil Sutter,
second lieutenant. The captains who succeeded Dobbins were Hiram W.
Theal, Henry DeMott, and B. Eilerman.
Marysville Union Guards
This was another prosperous company, organized on August 15, 1861.
The strength of the command was about sixty men, but this quota was hard
to maintain on account of the great number who enlisted and went to the
front. The first officers were : F. Hubbard, captain ; A. Woods, first lieu-
tenant; Henry Parsons, second lieutenant; F. B. Ayer, first sergeant; and
John Bacon, second sergeant. The captains who succeeded F. Hubbard were
C. G. Hubbard, W. P. Winkley, and Charles Bacon.
The company was mustered out on January 16, 1867. In 1863 it had
been organized as an artillery company.
Marysville Zouaves
This was a French Zouave company, organized in 1863. It had a strength
of fifty or sixty men, and was commanded by Dr. Fasvigne. It was in exist-
ence about one year.
Marysville Light Artillery
When the Union Guards disbanded, some of the members went to work
on the formation of a new company. This resulted in the organization of an
artillery company on August 4, 1867. The company had a strength of 116
men, and had two six-pound and two twelve-pound guns. The officers
were: A. W. Torrey, captain; Jim B. Leman, first lieutenant; George Ayers,
second lieutenant; M. Dixhammer, third lieutenant. No change was made
in its officers during the two years it was in existence. The company was
mustered out in December, 1869.
Sherman Guards
Then followed the Sherman Guards, Company H, 4th Regiment, 4th
Brigade, N. G. C, organized January 23, 1872. The first officers were : J.
M. Newhard, captain ; J. A. Hall, first lieutenant ; T. C. Morris, second lieu-
tenant ; J. M. Taylor, first sergeant; E. W. Sawtelle, second sergeant; H. F.
Beckman, third sergeant, and R. Sweeney, fourth sergeant. The company
had a strength of about sixty men. The same captain was retained until
they disbanded, on February 20, 1875.
Marysville Guards
Between that time and the late eighties, military fervor was at low ebb
in Marysville, the only martial organizations being those formed among
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 193
young men of school age, who had a Zouave company, and later a command
they called the Marysville Guards. At the head of the latter was Godfrey
L. Carden, son of the pastor of the Presbyterian Church. Carden is now
holding a high position in the ordnance department of the United States
Navy, and is one of Uncle Sam's ordnance experts. He has written a work
bearing on matters connected with his department.
The writer of this history, who was a member of Captain Carden's com-
pany in Marysville. recalls the manner in which the whole command was
routed one evening while a mutiny was on. The first sergeant of the com-
pany conceived the idea that he wanted the captaincy, which Captain Carden
was loath to give up. A meeting was called to settle definitely which of the
two the majority preferred. The first sergeant had done some preliminary elec-
tioneering and thought he had the place cinched. When the company "fell in"
and was regularly turned over. Captain Carden explained that he wished all
who desired to retain him to step one pace forward. About one-half of those
present obeyed. Then came a dispute as to who was the winner. From
words, the two contingents went to blows. AY. T. Ellis, Sr., from whom the
•armor}" at the southeast corner of D and First Streets was rented at a pit-
tance by the soldier lads, was told of the ruction. He was then quite active ;
and before the bus)" combatants were aware of the sturdy pioneer's presence,
he was at the top of the stairway, shouting out his amazement at the actions
of his youthful tenants. At sight of him, there was a general scampering
for the stairway. Ellis, for the nonce, was brigadier-general, major, captain,
everything. In their rush to leave the building, the young men nearly car-
ried their landlord with them. They went down the stairs quite without
ceremony. It was the beginning of the end for that particular command.
Company C, Champions of the World
It is not generally known that the militia of the city of Marysville hold
the enviable title of Champions of the World for rifle shooting, at 200 yards,
off-hand, fifty men competing on a side. This honor was won by the mem-
bers of Company C, 8th Infantry Regiment, National Guard of the State of
California, on May 19, 1895, and has never been equaled. The Marysville
militiamen won over the members of Company B of the National Guard of
San Francisco, on that date, by seventy-five points, the score being: Marys-
ville, 1982; San Francisco, 1907. This was thirty-one points better than any
showing made before or since in a National Guard match between 100 men.
The following took part in the contest in behalf of this city : Captain,
E. A. Forbes ; lieutenant, George H. Yoss ; sergeants, Phil J. Divver, Henry
Schuler, David Canning and Peter J. Delay ; corporals, Chris Mayer, Chris
Hovis, Matt Nelson, Joseph Arnoldy, John Giblin, and Warnick Waldron ;
musicians, Oscar F. Stoodley and Jesse Boulton ; privates, William O'Brien,
W. F. Lewis, Tom E. Bevan. Peter J. Arnoldy, George Devoe, Mark Eckart,
John Selinger, Henry Scheussler, Herbert AY. Wills, Richard H. Klempp.
George Ohleyer. Cornelius Slattery, AA'ill S. Rogers, Dr. A. H. Suggett, Al P.
Lipp, Byron Divver. Carl Neubold. M. Gomes, Henry Burner. AVilliam A.
Sutfin, Wyllie Steward, George Burnight, Arthur Brannan, J. AY. Hutchins,
George Yale. AY. W. Shaffer, Thomas Giblin, George McCov. Steve How-
ser, Fred H. Greely. C. H. AYoolery. Thomas C. Johnson, Dr. J. H. Barr, J. L.
Howard, John S. Hutchins, and Thomas Bennett.
Perusal of the old records of the now extinct Company C shows that no
less than fifteen of the marksmen who took part in this memorable and
exciting match have answered "taps." These include Capt. E. A. Forbes;
Lieut. George H. A'oss, who afterward became sheriff of Yuba County ; and
Sergeant Phil J. Divver, who later became supervisor and county clerk.
194
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
All arrangements for the match were made by Captain Forbes of the
locals and Captain Cook of San Francisco. Representatives from the fol-
lowing National Guard contingents of this section of the State witnessed the
contest : Company A of Chico, Company B of Colusa, Company F of Oro-
ville, and Company G of Willows. The city presented a gay appearance that
night, as the visitors drowned their defeat in wheelbarrow races, foot races,
and other improvised athletic contests.
By the year 1898, when volunteers were called for the Spanish-American
War, Company C had become known as Company D. As such it proved the
machine through which a volunteer company of 105 men, including the offi-
cers, entered that war. The brave lads did not see service, however, the war
being too short-lived. They were first ordered into training at Camp Bar-
rett, at Fruitvale, Alameda County, under Capt. George H. Voss, where they
remained three weeks before being mustered into the regulars. A few weeks
later a portion of the company was sent into barracks at Mare Island, the
other detachment going to Vancouver, B. C.
World's Championship Record
200 Yards. Fifty men to side. May 19, 1895. Marysville, California
Company B. 1st Infantry Regiment. San Francisco, Captain Cook's "City
Guards": 1907 points; average per man, 38.14.
Company C, 8th Infantry Regiment, Marysville, "Hayseed Eighth" : 1982
points ; average per man, 39.64.
Key to Plate
First Row (Read down)
Private George Yale.
Private Carl Neubold.
Private Thomas P. Bennett.
Private A. P. Lipp.
Private M. A. Eckart.
Sergeant Peter J. Delay.
Private Henry Burner.
Second Row (Read down)
Private H. Scheussler.
Private George Ohleyer, Jr.
Private John Selinger.
Private M. F. Gomes.
Corporal Joseph P. Arnold}-.
Musician O. F. Stoodley.
Third Row (Read down)
Private W. A. Sutfin. '
Private Con Slattery.
Private Byron B. Divver.
Private W. L. Steward.
Private Tom E. Bevan.
Private W. F. Lewis.
Fourth Row (Read down)
Sergeant Phil J. Divver.
Corporal W. C. Waldron.
Musician J. W. Boulton.
Second Lieutenant George H. A^oss.
Private George Burnight.
Private Fred H. Greely.
Fifth Row (Read down)
Corporal Chris Mayer.
Private W. S. Rogers.
Private William O'Brien.
Captain E. A. Forbes.
Private Richard Klempp.
Private A. H. Brannan.
Sixth Row (Read down)
Private A. H. Suggett.
Private P. J. Arnoldy.
Private J. H. Barr.
Private C. H. Woolery.
Private Thomas F. Giblin.
Private Steve Howser. ■
Seventh Row (Read down)
Private J. W. Hutchins.
Private W. W. Shaffer.
Private George W. McCoy.
Private J. S. Hutchins.
Private H. W. Wills.
Private J. L. Howard.
Eighth Row (Read down)
Sergeant D. Canning.
Corporal Matt Nelson.
Sergeant H. C. Schuler.
Private George A. Devoe.
Corporal John W. Giblin.
Private T. C. Johnson.
Corporal C. C. Hovis.
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HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 197
AFTER-WAR ORGANIZATIONS
Yuba-Sutter Post, American Legion
On the evening of August 2, 1919, fifteen veterans of the World War
met in the Yuba County Courthouse in Marysville to consider the organiza-
tion of a post of the American Legion. It being the unanimous wish of
those present that a charter be applied for, the following signed the petition :
Garth H. Ottney, Allen B. Cunningham, Howard H. Harter, Walter M.
Langdon, Abel McCabe, Lawrence H. Sargent, Otto J. Bassman, Omar H.
Martin, Raymond H. Corona, Homer B. Meek, Theodore F. Engstrom, A. M.
Bundy, Waldo S. Johnson, A. H. Harrison, and H. W. L. Niemeyer.
At the next meeting, held on September 19, 1919, it was announced by
the temporary chairman that the charter had been granted by the National
Committee of the American Legion, and that the name conferred upon the
new post was "Yuba-Sutter Post, No. 42, American Legion."
Following the adoption of a constitution along lines suggested from
national headquarters, the election of officers took place, resulting as follows :
Commander, Donnell Greely ; vice-commander, A. H. Harrison; adjutant,
Henry Niebling; treasurer, Garth Ottney; executive committee, H. W. L.
Niemeyer, O. C. Harter, J. E. Holbrook, E. L. McCune, and John H. Sprad-
ling ; sergeant-at-arms, Edward Wilson.
The post soon began to make its influence felt in the community. An
active interest was taken in the claims of service men, and many claims were
brought to a successful termination through the work of the post.
The first real thrill came when word was received by the post, one day.
that a certain salesman connected with a carpet-bagging concern that had
opened a store on D Street for the purpose of selling left-over government
goods from the war, had insulted a Red Cross girl who visited the place. A
squad was not long in forming. Working with military precision, they soon
had the stock of goods on the sidewalk and the manager and clerks under
orders to shake the dust of, Marysville from their feet, and take their stock
with them. They went, without a protest.
Later, the attention of the post was' called to certain billboard matter in
which the face of the Kaiser was conspicuously shown as an appeal from a
certain San Francisco newspaper to have the public read a story which the
war lord was about to contribute to it for publication. Again the boys
worked in keeping with their military training — this time by night. When
the residents of the city awoke next morning, they found the Kaiser's physi-
ognomy peeking through lines that represented prison bars. Above or below
the Kaiser's head were inscriptions deriding him for his war record and his
treatment of innocent women and children. The posters were never restored,
nor were any similar ones substituted.
The post annually observes Armistice Day with a big celebration. At
the death of a comrade, military honors are shown and the grave of the
deceased properly marked.
Bishop-Langenbach Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars
Bishop-Langenbach Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United
States, was organized in Marysville on June 2, 1922, at a meeting held in the
City Hall. This meeting was arranged by Tom Harney, an ex-service man
en route north, who had mustered the members in a tent placed by him at
Third and D Streets. The post adopted its name in honor of two Yuba
County young men who made the "supreme sacrifice" in the World War of
1914-1918. They were Private Lester Bishop and Lieut. Paul J. Langenbach.
Private Lester Bishop, Company L, 30th Infantry, American Expedition-
ary Forces, was wounded August 10, 1918, at Chateau Thierry; he died on
198 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
October 17, 1918, at base hospital No: 34 at Nantes, France, and was buried
at Marysville on October 3, 1919, with high military honors.
Lieut. Paul J. Langenbach enlisted as a private with the 160th Infantry,
California National Guard. He left for "over there" in June, 1918. When
he arrived in France, he was transferred to Company I, 102nd Infantry, 26th
Yankee Division. He was killed in the Meuse-Argonne offensive, October
27 , 1918. His remains were later brought to this country and laid to their
final rest in Marysville, where his father and other members of his family
had their place of residence.
Other after-war organizations of the county are the Women's Auxiliary
to the American Legion, and "40 and 8."
CHAPTER XVIII
OTHER TOWNS OF THE COUNTY
Agriculture and mining, which always have been dependable resources
of Yuba County, are accountable for the advent of many sister settlements
since the birth of Marysville. For the most part these places have looked
to Marysville as the marketing place, as all, save Wheatland, are distant
from the line of the railroad. Wheatland ranks next in importance to
Marysville. Smartsville, Browns Valley, Dobbins, Indiana Ranch, Browns-
ville, Challenge, Strawberry, Woodleaf and Clipper all have been in close
touch with the county-seat since their birth.
WHEATLAND
Wheatland, located at the four corners of Yuba, Sutter, Nevada and
Placer Counties, was- laid out in lots- in 1866 by George Holland, under the
management of C. L. AYilson. The chain of title to the town lots begins
with the year 1844, when Don Pablo Gutierrez received a grant of five Span-
ish leagues of land on the north bank of the Bear River. He was killed in
1845, and the grant was sold at auction on April 28, 1845, by John A. Sutter,
as magistrate, to William Johnson, from whom the section gets the name
Johnson Rancho. Sebastian Kyser owned a one-half interest in Johnson's
purchase. On November 10, 1849, Kyser sold to Eugene Gillespie and Henry
E. Robinson. March 24, 1849, Johnson sold to James Kyle, Jonathan B.
Truesdale, James Emory, and William Cleveland. Truesdale deeded his
interest to Cleveland, Kyle, and James Imbrie. August 13, 1849, Cleveland,
Kyle, and Imbrie deeded to Gillespie and Robinson, thus giving the title to
the whole grant to these men. September 28, 1854, Robinson deeded a one-
half interest to Elihu Woodruff. By a partition deed, March 28, 1856, John
W. Bray was deeded, among other tracts, the east half of Section 12 of
Johnson's Ranch. August 3, 1857, the United States confirmed the Mexican
grant in the name of William Johnson, thus perfecting the title. November
14, 1857, Bray sold the southeast quarter of Section 12 to Eli A. Harper.
November 20, 1863, Harper deeded the tract to A. W. Holloman and C.
Cauthron. On October 26, 1865, the property was conveyed by Holloman
and Cauthron to George S. Wright.
The Central Pacific Railroad was completed to AYheatland in 1866, and
a post-office established. One of the first buildings was erected by Ziegeb-
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 199
bien & Company for a store ; this was a wooden structure on the corner of
Main and Front Streets. The first residence was built the same year by
C. Holland, at the corner of Main and D Streets. E. W. Sheets built a
blacksmith shop on the corner of Main and C Streets ; and Asa Raymond
built a hotel on Main Street, near the east end of the town. These were
all the buildings erected during the first year of the town's existence. Not
until the year 1871-1872 did the sale of lots become very brisk.
On account of the inability of the town to protect itself against fire,
and provide sanitary regulations, etc., the citizens decided to have the town
incorporated, which was accordingly done by act of the legislature, March
13, 1874. The first board of trustees was composed of D. P. Durst, president;
H. C. Niemeyer, clerk; H. Lohse, C. Holland, and S. Wolf; the first treasurer
was David Irwin ; assessor, Cyrus Stoddard ; marshal, Joseph Trimmer ; city
justices of the peace, A. M. Bragg and W. L. Campbell. Wheatland has
twice been razed by fire, but is now well protected against that element.
The hop industry, followed in recent years by Durst Brothers, E. C.
Horst, and others, has caused the place to be known as the "Hop Center."
■ Frequent slumps in this commodit)' have caused the landowners and growers
to turn in recent years to fruit and vegetables, with marked success. The
land about AVheatland is the richest in the county, particularly the bottom
lands along the Bear River. At the present time a movement is on foot to
provide a bridge across Bear River to connect this section with the rich Rio
Oso section in Sutter County. G. E. Nutt is the supervisor representing the
section on the board at present.
The town derived its name from the vast amount of wheat grown in the
vicinity in its early history, and shipped by rail from that point.
Farmers Bank of Wheatland
The Farmers Bank of AVheatland was incorporated October 22, 1874,
with a capital stock of $125,000, divided into 1250 shares of $100 each. The
officers of the bank at that time were Crawford Holland, president ; A. W.
Oakley, secretary; and W. W. Holland, cashier. On March 16, 1875. the
capital stock was increased to $250,000, divided into 2500 shares.
Organizations of the Town
AA'heatland has a prosperous lodge of Odd Fellows, which bod}- owns its
own hall. Here all lodges of the place meet, including a Masonic lodge
and a parlor of Native Sons. At one time the town supported a branch of the
Good Templars and a branch of the Patrons of Husbandry.
The Wheatland AA'omen's Civic Improvement Club is a valuable asset
to the place. Recently the women aided the Chamber of Commerce of
AA'heatland in the planting of trees along the State Highway between AVheat-
land and Marysville.
The churches of AA'heatland are a credit to the community, being well
attended, and well constructed and preserved as to architecture. The Metho-
dists, Episcopalians, Christians and Baptists each have large congregations
contributing to the support of pastors. Besides engaging in church work,
the women folks of all denominations are organized into an improvement
club, which looks well to the physical as well as the moral welfare of the
community.
The Weekly Newspaper
From the early seventies AA'heatland has continuously supported a news-
paper. The AA'heatland Enterprise was the name of the first journal, started
by A. C. Pratt, who was editor and publisher. In 1874, AA". L. Campbell
and F. M. AA r alsh bought the plant and changed the name to the AA'heatland
Free Press. Campbell soon sold his interest to his partner, and in 1875 the
200 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
owners were Walsh & Larrabee. When Frank F. Carndufr, former Marys-
ville attorney, took over the paper, he called it the Recorder. In later years
the paper was conducted by Jonathan Durst. He sold his interest to John
Cleek, who added a linotype to the plant's equipment. Cleek is the present
owner of the paper, which is now known as the Wheatland Herald.
Men Who Made Wheatland
Names synonymous with Wheatland's steady growth, sturdy pioneers
who knew no such word as failure, are : W. O. Armstead, D. W. Berry,
William A. Creps, B. F. Dam, C. K. Dam, W. T. Foster, A. N. Garrison,
C. P. Gillette, William Harding, T. B. Hopkins, P. L. Hutchinson, J. M. C.
Jasper, F. Kirshner, Samuel Kuster, Frank R. Lofton, John H. Major, A. W.
Oakley, Hugh Roddan. J. W. Sowed, A. J. AVebster, O. Whiteside, and S. D.
Wood, all farmers and stock-raisers. Others, in various callings, are Charles
Justis, merchant and butcher; A. M. Neustadt, hotel-keeper; J. F. Baun,
blacksmith and wagon-maker ; F. J. Calmes, saddlery and harness ; Frank F.
Carnduff, newspaper man ; E. P. Duplex, barber ; David Irwin, superintend-
ent lumber company ; D. O. Little, blacksmith ; W. M. Neustadt, hotel ; E. W.
Sheets, blacksmith ; John A. Stewart, wagon-maker ; A. J. Swift, blacksmith
and wagon-maker; and Matthew A. Scott, drugs. Descendants of this brave
band are now to be found in many sections of Yuba and Sutter Counties.
BROWNS VALLEY
Mines and Mining Claims
Browns Valley, situated twelve miles northeast of Marysville, received
its name from an early settler named Brown, who in 1850 accidentally dis-
covered gold upon the present site of the place. Brown made his strike
near a huge boulder adjoining his temporary camp. It is said he took out
$12,000 in quartz, and was satisfied to retire on that amount.
Joe Brockman, brother of William Brockman, who now lives near the
Sutter Buttes, tried mining with sluice-boxes shortly after. He was working
near a rich vein, which to him appeared to be "petered out." He did not
know how near he had come to fabulous wealth until after he sold his claim
to four Frenchmen, who knew more about mining ground than Brockman.
They were not long in locating the vein that made the Jefferson Mine
famous. It is said they took out enough to warrant their retirement in a
few years. One of the number was the founder of the resort that thrived at
B and Third Streets in Marysville for many years, remembered by the older
residents as "Wideman's Corner."
The Flag Mine followed the Jefferson, giving employment to a large
number of men. Then the Donnebrouge Mine was located ; and this was
followed by the opening of the Pennsylvania Mine.
In connection with the early history of the Pennsylvania Mine, it is told
that one of the early-day superintendents, conniving with the underground
boss, made it impossible for a miner to obtain employment in the claim
unless a royalty of five dollars a month was forthcoming. This system they
worked for years, giving them a competency over their salary to justify
their retiring to the East.
The Sweet Vengeance Mine was also a big producer in the palmy days
of Browns Valley. This mine was first owned by Spaniards, who carried
the ore to Little Creek and ground the gold from it with arrastres. A
French company bought out the Spaniards and put in a stamp mill, one of
the first to be used in California.
Other claims that were worked at Browns Valley in the early days were :
The Daniel Webster, Pacific, Burnside, Paragon, Ophir, Rattlesnake, Bay-
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 201
erque, and Anderson. The ruins of the old mills and buildings are still
standing over several of the once rich mines.
Water in the lower levels always disturbed operations in the larger
mines — those that were sunk deepest. It is this condition that today dis-
courages capital from reviving such mines as the Pennsylvania and Jefferson.
Surface diggings paid in early days in the foothills surrounding Browns
Valley. Traces of this species of mining may still be seen here.
Hotels, Stores and Stopping Places
Browns Valley at one time had five hotels and twenty-four saloons.
This statement is made on the authority of Joseph Bruce, who still lives
there, and who is a member of one of the pioneer families in the lively burg.
While none of the hotels were pretentious, one sold in the sixties for $9000.
Matt Woods, who later became sheriff of Yuba County, was the owner
of a store in the mining camp, as was also Charles E. Sexey, who later
became a prominent resident of Marysville, and filled the office of levee com-
missioner there.
Public houses or stopping places along the stage line in the same region
' as Browns Valley, in early days, were the Sixteen-mile House, Comstock
Place, Galena House, Peoria House, Zinc House, Stanfield House, and
Bowers' Place.
Prairie Diggings, a little way above Browns Valley, was once a great
surface-mining locality. Mining commenced there in 1854, and attracted
many who later became residents of Marysville. Toward the end of its
career the Chinese were the only ones to persist there.
When Long Bar was worked out, many of the miners who worked there
moved to Browns Valley.
The Hooker Guards
The Hooker Guards was the name of a military company Browns Valley
once boasted. It was organized in June, 1863, during the exciting times of
the Civil War. The officers were. h. D. Webb, captain ; George H. Iceland
(who owned a hotel boarding 500 men), first lieutenant; R. P. Riddle, second
lieutenant ; C. Sheldon, third lieutenant ; and Thomas Cook, first sergeant.
INDIANA RANCH
Indiana Ranch, still regarded as a mining section of Yuba County with
prospects, was first settled in 1851 by Page Brothers and A. P. Labadie,
who opened a hotel. John Tolles also kept a hotel about the same time.
Gold was discovered along the ravine and creek in 1851, and the diggings
were called "Indiana Creek" or "Tolles" New Diggings." One hundred feet
square was a mining claim, and an ounce per day the average yield. In 1851
and 1852 there were between 400 and 500 miners at work along Indiana and
Keystone Creeks, making a very lively camp. The place received the name
from Page Brothers, who came from the State of Indiana. Among the other
early settlers were M. G. Mory, L,. S. Camper, Reuben Reed, A. J. Reed,
Reuben Reed, Jr., Owens Owens, and Edward Medlock. A. Weaver was
the first justice of the peace.
A private school was kept in 1855 by Miss Phillips, a daughter of Cap-
tain Phillips of the Peoria House. It was held in a private dwelling until
1856, when a subscription was raised for the construction of a schoolhouse.
The school district was formed in 1857. In that year, the creek and ravine
having been worked out, there was a great decrease in the population, conse-
quent upon the departure of the miners for other localities. In recent years
some rich pockets have been found here, but none has proved lasting.
202 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
DOBBINS RANCH
William M. Dobbins and his brother, Mark D. Dobbins, settled on the
creek that bears their name in 1849. William Dobbins, when quite young,
participated in Commodore Perry's memorable engagement on Lake Erie,
and at the time of his death, in 1876, was the last surviving witness of that
historic contest. He was elected justice of the region in 1849 and was later
county clerk. In 1856 he went East as a delegate to the national convention
that nominated Buchanan for the Presidency. He never returned.
After passing through the hands of several parties, the ranch came into
the possession of Joseph Merriam in 1862. It was in 1867 that Slingsby &
Gettins opened a store in Dobbins, supplying the surrounding country, and
keeping a pack train upon the road continually. William Slingsby was at
one time chairman of the board of supervisors. Daniel Gettins, his partner,
though very popular, never dabbled in politics, being content to labor among
and befriend the miners. Both Slingsby and Gettins died at the scene of
their life activities, honored by all.
Religious services were held by the Catholic clergy from Marysville
every two weeks, at the residence of James McMenamin.
GREENVILLE
Greenville, once a lively camp for its size, is now a quiet settlement
of the county's mountain district. It is situated in a small basin on Oregon
Creek, and was once called Oregon Hill. This place was first worked in 1850,
but did not become well developed until the construction of the Nine-horse
Ditch. The company that constructed this ditch was composed of nine
members ; and in order to let it be known that it was no "one-horse affair"
they named it the "Nine-horse Ditch."
The first school was opened in 1861, and was taught by Miss Henley.
A schoolhouse was erected in 1860 at a cost of $2000, and the Greenville
district was formed. About fifty people now receive their mail at Greenville.
STRAWBERRY VALLEY
Many Marysville people now find in Strawberry Valley, near the line of
Butte County, an inviting resort to which they can motor for the week-end
and enjoy fishing, hunting and camping. Strawberry Valley, familiarly
known as Strawberry, is situated in a beautiful valley, in a large mining
district, forty-three miles northeast from Marysville. At one time it was the
most thriving locality in Northeast Township.
Name and Early History
The old Indian name of the place was "Pomingo," the Indians' name
for a plant that grew there." Why the name of Strawberry was applied to
this locality has been the subject of considerable inquiry. One story, and
probably the correct one, is to the effect that when the first settlers arrived
there, in the year 1848, they found quantities of delicious wild strawberries,
and from that circumstance gave it the name which it still retains. In keep-
ing with this explanation, it is stated that the place was so named early in
1851 by Capt. William Mock, the name being suggested by the large number
of wild strawberry vines found around the head of the valley. Another
account states that the first two settlers were named respectively Straw and
Berry, and each vied with the other in the attempt to have the place honored
by being called after him. Considerable jealousy was occasioned thereby,
which was happily alleviated by the suggestion of the other residents that,
as it could not be called Straw appropriately, and as Berry was not signifi-
cant, they should join Straw with Berry and Berry to Straw, thus forming
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 203
the word Strawberry, which was readily assented to, and all past grievances
by this means settled.
In 1851 a few miners came and commenced prospecting in the ravines,
and some rich diggings were found on Deadwood Creek. The places were
called Kentucky Gulch, Rich Gulch, and Whiskey Gulch.
In the fall of 1858 the first public school was kept, Miss Wyman being
chosen as the teacher.
The Town at Present
The present town of Strawberry consists of a hotel, one store, the post-
office, a school and a number of dwelling houses. For many years the late
Joel Bean was mine host at the Strawberry Hotel. On account of his
hospitality and that of the members of his family, once a guest meant a
longing to return. Joel Bean made welcome the birds of spring as well as
members of the human family. In front of the hotel he raised a staff fifty
feet high, at the top of which he placed a home for the robins. Almost
to the day each spring these birds would return to this cote, and Mr. Bean
then knew that spring had really arrived.
Without the members of the Bean family, the voting strength of Straw-
berry Valley would now be greatly reduced. During the lifetime of Joel
Bean the family had fourteen of the thirty-four votes cast in the precinct.
Those of the family who still use the right of franchise there are : Mrs.
Anna R. Bean, Abraham Lincoln Bean, Francis L. Bean, John A. Bean, Miss
Laura B. Bean, Mrs. Mabel C. Bean, Mrs. Mary Ann Bean, Morgan George
Bean, Mrs. Nellie Orr Bean, Paris G. Bean, Vernon J. Bean, and Walter
Paris Bean.
The inhabitants of the place are intelligent and hospitable, and take a
live interest in the advancement of the village. Strange as it may appear,
the main and only street, at one time, was the dividing line between Yuba
and Butte Counties, the business places on opposite sides being in different
counties. An act of the legislature, however, changed this state of affairs,
and the town that was once divided against itself is now united.
There are various sawmills in the vicinity, of large capacity, the lumber
from which is shipped to Marysville. A most excellent dirt road affords
ingress and egress to and from the place.
HANSONVILLE
This once flourishing town was situated on the Hansonville branch of
the Honcut, twenty-eight miles from Marysville. It was first settled in 1851,
by James H. Hanson, after whom the town was named. A number of miners
commenced to work along the creek in the spring of 1851, and more soon
followed. R. M. Johnson settled with Hanson, and together they built a
house in which they kept the first store and hotel. William Denton, later
of Marysville, and Henry Critcher both opened stores in 1851. In 1852
there were seven stores, eight hotels and a population of 1000 people in
the town of Hansonville, of which only a trace now remains. Every store
had a bar. There was also a bowling alley in the town. Gambling was
very generally indulged in.
In 1852 religious services were held in the barrooms and private houses,
by Rev. Merchant. One day he was preaching back of a saloon, the gamblers
having ceased operations in order to hear the sermon. One of them opened
a faro game and won about $50, which he presented to the minister at the
conclusion of the services. The minister said he would take it, as it had
been in bad use long enough. From 1864 to 1876 the Methodists held
regular services in the Hansonville schoolhouse. The schoolhouse was built
in 1864 at an expense of $500.
204 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
BROWNSVILLE
Brownsville is on the Marysville-La Porte road thirty-three miles from
Marysville. I. E. Brown built a sawmill there in August, 1851, at a cost
of $8000. In November, 1852, Martin Knox, after whom the Knox turnpike
was named, and P. E. Weeks bought the mill under the firm name of Weeks
& Knox. The mill was abandoned about 1857. In addition to the mili,
Brown and his partner, John Hoyt. kept hotel in a log house. When Weeks
& Knox bought them out, they named the place Brownsville, in honor
of Brown. In 1853, a store was started in connection with this hotel. In
1855, Weeks & Knox built a large hotel. The first blacksmith came in 1855,
a man named Sheets. In 1861, the store was given up. The hotel was
burned in 1866, and another was built the same year.
Quite early the town supported a lodge of Odd Fellows, and later a
lodge of Good Templars existed for a time.
The first religious services were held by a minister of the Methodist
Episcopal denomination at the residence of Mrs. Foss. A church was built
by subscription, at a cost of $500, and was dedicated on October 20, 1866.
The pastor in charge was Rev. C. A. Leaman.
Later Growth
In 1878. there was quite an impetus given to the town. A large addition
was made to the hotel, an educational institution was opened, a hall asso-
ciation was formed, a store was started, and some $15,000 were spent in
improvements. From 1861 to 1878, the town had been without a store, but
in the latter year Hawkins & Hawley opened one with an excellent assort-
ment of goods. The Knoxdale Institute was founded by Mr. and Mrs.
Martin Knox, and the school opened on September 9, 1878, with Prof. E. K.
Hill as principal. There were but five scholars when the school was opened,
but this number was increased the second term to seventeen. This school,
which is described more fully in the chapter on schools, continued in exist-
ence as an educational institution for about seven years.
CHALLENGE
The present town of Challenge, the home of Supervisor AV. J. Mellon,
derived its name from a lumber mill built on the site in 1856 by Cook and
Malory. The Union Lumber Company bought the mill, and sold it in 1874
to A. M. Leach. Lumbering and some mining supports the town.
FOSTER'S BAR
Foster's Bar, famous in its palmy days, was situated on the bank of the
north Yuba River, between the mouths of Willow and Mill Creeks. It was
named after William Foster, one of the original proprietors, who lived in
Marysville, and. who mined at the bar early in 1849.
BULLARD'S BAR
Bullard's Bar was another large mining bar, three-fourths of a mile
below Foster's Bar. AYork was commenced here in 1849, and the bar soon
became a populous one. It was named after Dr. Bullard of Brooklyn, N. Y.,
who was one of the pioneer miners. Dr. Bullard was lost in a shipwreck
while on his way to the Sandwich Islands. Among the early settlers at
the bar were Charles E. DeLong, afterwards minister to Japan ; C. E. Lip-
pincott, editor of the Sierra Citizen in 1855 and later auditor of the State
of Illinois; Daniel Gettins, later of the firm of Slingsby & Gettins of Dob-
bins Ranch ; and Roger McMenamin, whose daughter was married to Will-
iam Slingsby later on.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 205
The first lady to make an appearance at the bar was Mrs. Colonel
Ewing. She came in 1850 and assisted her husband in mining. He carried
the dirt in buckets to water, and she rocked the cradle, an occupation usually
considered the portion of the better half, at least in its domestic sense.
A company of sixteen shareholders was formed in January, 1850, for the
purpose of turning the river, so as to mine the river bed. They worked
until September and made a failure of the project, after having expended
$47,000. The river was afterward turned by a flume, and the bed was then
found to be worthless.
The first bridge in the township was erected in 1850 by E. S. Gifford.
It was the custom to erect a light structure in the summer, so that if the
high water of the winter season should carry it away, the loss would be
comparatively light. After passing through several hands, it came into the
possession of George Mix, who in 1858 erected the first permanent structure,
at a cost of $7000. He also constructed wagon roads to the bar. The great
flood of 1862 carried the bridge away, and another was constructed further
up the stream, which was afterward sold to John Ramm and made a toll
bridge. In the flood of 1875 this bridge also was destroyed. Ramm later
built a bridge at an expense of $15,000.
In 1852 a military company called the Bullard's Guards was organized.
The uniforms consisted of blue shirts, with a sash around the waist.
Other bars in the vicinity in early days were : Stony Bar, Poverty Bar,
Horse Bar, Condemned Bar, Frenchman's Bar, Missouri Bar, Negro Bar,
Clingman's Point, English Bar, Winslow Bar, Kanaka Bar, Long Bar No. 2,
Oregon Bar, Pittsburg Bar, Rock Island Bar, Elbow Bar, Missouri Bar No. 2.
Bullard's Bar Dam
Bullard's Bar at present is attracting the eyes of California, for at that
point is to be built a dam at a cost of $24,000,000 for the purpose of per-
mitting the resumption of hydraulic mining in Sierra and Yuba Counties
under government regulations, which require the restraining dam. The
work is the plan of the Yuba River Power Company, which concern bought
out the Marysville and Nevada Power and Water Company. Back of the
company are a number of wealthy men. The immense dam will hold back
water sufficient to supply irrigation for a vast acreage in the foothills below
it, and it also will provide electrical energy for power concerns of the State.
The project of which this dam is a part is more fully discussed in the chapter
on Gold Mining in Yuba County.
CAMPTONVILLE
The traveler over the ridge between Dobbins Ranch and Sierra County
encounters the town of Camptonville. This thriving mountain town nestles
in a typical California glen and originally covered 159 acres of ground. The
old trail to Downieville led through this place; and as early as 1851, and
perhaps 1850, J. M. and J. Campbell built a small mountain hotel here, called
the Nevada House. Early in the spring of 1852, a company from Nevada,
Samuel Whiteside, J. Compton, William Cowan, William R. Dixon, Hiram
Buster, Charles O'Hara, and Jeff Vanmetre, came here prospecting, and at
the instance of AVhiteside a shaft was sunk on the hill, where gold was struck
in paying quantities. This was the opening of a series of rich hill diggings
through this region. The hill was named Gold Ridge.
The Campbell brothers built a store in 1852, which was placed in charge
of a man named Fuller. In the spring of 1853 the place had grown to con-
siderable size, and a large number of miners commenced work on Gold
Ridge, which extended for several miles. That year the Campbells built a
large three-story hotel. It was called the National Hotel. In 1861 the
206 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY ■
ground on which it was built was sold for mining purposes, and the building
was torn down. In 1853 Ed Brooks built a store, and in 1856 erected a
large brick building, at a cost of $12,000. J. R. Meek, father of the present
county surveyor and of William B. Meek, who resides in Camptonville,
later became the owner of this structure. William B. Meek is interested in
the leading store in Camptonville. To him is left the handling of whatever
Camptonville arranges in the line of celebrations. An expert driver, Meek-
takes delight in giving the visitors thrilling rides over the mountain roads
'as a feature of such gatherings.
Robert Campton came in 1852 and opened a blacksmith shop. He was
a general favorite, and in 1854 the town was named Camptonville, in honoi
of the sturdy artisan.
The first dramatic entertainment ever given in the town was presented
by Miss Goodwin on the upper floor of a saloon building, in 1854.
A bowling alley was built in 1853 by William Green. The alley was
made from one-half of a tree trunk, cut by a whipsaw. At a miners' meeting
held in the bowling alley in the spring of 1854, it was decided that mining
claims should be 75 by 75 feet and town lots 75 by 150 feet.
In the fall of 1854, the wagon road was finished to Camptonville, and
in 1855 the California Stage Company began to run stages to the town.
Previous to this, pack trains were the only means of transportation. Isaac
Green started an opposition line, and finally compelled the other to abandon
the route. Warren Green succeeded his brother in the stage business.
The first school in Camptonville was a private one opened in 1854,
taught by Mrs. A. Brooks at her residence. The same year a public school
was opened. Miss Budden was the teacher.
Early Water Companies
The necessity of having good water in Camptonville was early recog-
nized by Sanford Hall, and in 1857 he undertook the task of supplying it.
From a large spring, two and one-half miles east of the town, he constructed
a flume, through which water was brought to a reservoir within the town
limits. This reservoir had a capacity of 12,000 gallons, and was built of
planks at a cost of $200. Another flume ran from the reservoir over the
tops of the houses, from which water was drawn off in supply pipes for use
by the citizens. In 1858, he laid down 700 feet of four-inch pipe, at a cost of
$1500. In 1859 he sold the property to J. D. Andrews.
In 1860, Everett, McClellan, & Elwell built a flume from a spring on
Oregon Creek, two and three-fourths miles distant, and brought water into
two reservoirs, 16 by 24 feet in size and 10 feet deep. They laid 1200 feet
of six-inch main pipe in the town, and 800 feet of supply pipe. They also
furnished four fire plugs. These improvements cost $6500. In 1861 these
men bought out Andrews, and consolidated the water business. At one
time the property was all owned by J. P. Brown.
Yuba Light Infantry
Company E, 1st Battalion, 4th Brigade, N. G. C, was organized in
Camptonville, November 7, 1863, with eighty members. The first officers
were J. P. Brown, captain; J. G. McClellan, first lieutenant; S. W. Wardner,
second lieutenant; and Charles Gray, Jr., second lieutenant. The company
was supplied with the regulation Springfield breech-loading muskets.
The armory was enlarged from time to time, and was used as a dance
hall and theater. Two balls were given by the company each year, in May
and September. The company had a military band of nine pieces that was
organized in 1878 as the Camptonville Brass Band. The first troupe to play
on the new armory stage was the Wilbur & Mills Minstrel Troupe.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 207
SMARTSVILLE
Smartsville obtained its name from a man named Smart, who built the
first hotel there in the spring of 1856. This was the first building, except
a cabin here and there occupied by the miners. The only large settlements
at that time in the township were Timbuctoo and Sucker Flat. L. B. Clark
bought the hotel in 1857 and kept a store. Rich mines were developed, the
remains of which are still to be seen, as also the traces of the days of the
hydraulic miner. Prominently identified with the history of the place were
the late James O'Brien, Sr., Daniel McGanney, Thomas Conlin, John H. Mc-
Quaid and John Cramsie. Descendants of these pioneers are to be found in
the once thriving mining camp, having taken up the burdens of their ances-
tors where they laid them down.
Union Church
A union church was built in Smartsville in 1863 by subscriptions from
the citizens of the town, costing about $1500. The Presbyterians, Methodists
and Episcopalians held services here, though none were then strong enough
to supply a regular pastor. The Presbyterians had a resident pastor two or
three years. The Methodists were supplied by the circuit minister. Episco-
oalian clergymen occasionally came from Marysville and elsewhere and held
services. A union Sunday school and a library of 300 volumes were main-
tained. The late John T. Vineyard was the superintendent.
Church of the Immaculate Conception
The first services of the Catholic denomination in the vicinity were held
by Rev. Father Peter Magganotta at Rose Bar in 1852, at which time the
church was organized. The first church edifice was erected in 1861 and
was called St. Rose's Church. It was burned in 1870, and another was
built in the following year. The successive pastors were Rev. Maurice
Hickey, Rev. Daniel O'Sullivan, Rev. Matthew Coleman, Rev. Father Two-
mey, Rev. J. J. Hines, Father Dermody, and Father Enright. At present
the parish is visited by a priest from Grass Valley.
Catharine Johnson Berry*
A history of Yuba County would be incomplete without mention of
its valiant pioneer women. There comes before my mind the picture of one
of these noble women who left a life of ease and social distinction, to follow
the fortunes of her husband in the far West.
Catharine Johnson Berry, the subject of this sketch, was born of Irish
parentage in Baltimore, Md., August 25, 1817. She received her education at
the even then famous convent of Emmitsburg, and was graduated later from a
French school in Philadelphia. She mingled for years in Southern society,
and in the early forties went to Dubuque, Iowa, where, in 1843, she married
John Van Antwerp Berry. The latter was born in Montgomery County,
N. Y., in 1810, and was descended from the hardy Dutch burgomasters.
He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1834 by Chief Justice Savage,
and moved to Iowa in 1838.
When the news of the discovery of gold reached Dubuque, Mr. Berry
decided to leave a promising future and try his fortune in the land of gold.
*The author wishes to acknowledge, with thanks, the following sketch of Mrs.
Berry's life as the contribution of Miss Agnes M. O'Brien of Smartsville, daughter of
the late James O'Brien, honored and dependable pioneer of Yuba County, whose name
is inseparable from the story of the agricultural and mining development of this section.
The story of Mrs. Berry's trials and noble sacrifices in the West is that of many another
noble woman. It is regrettable that space cannot be given to all the pioneer women
who so handsomely assisted in the building of the great commonwealth in which the
present generation flourishes as a result of their labors.
208 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY •
With his wife and two small sons, he joined an emigrant train which left
Galena, 111., on the 17th of March, 1849. Mr. Berry's diary contains the fol-
lowing list of purchases made for that long journey. Two wagons, $200
six yoke of oxen, $300; four barrels of flour, $16; two barrels of pork, $15
two barrels of crackers, $8; one keg of lard, $15; one keg of butter, $10
cheese, $5; one barrel of sugar, $15; and numerous other articles of various
kinds, including tools.
The long, tedious trip was not marked by any misfortunes ; but in after
years Mrs. Berry often spoke of the discomforts and anxiety endured in
crossing the plains. During their journey they joined a New Jersey train ;
and after the last mountain' had been passed, they abandoned one wagon
and used all the oxen on the remaining one, thus reaching their destination
more quickly. Part of their itinerary reads as follows : Fort Laramie, June
12; City of Salt Lake, July 14; Steeple Rocks, July 25; Summit of the Sierra
Nevadas, September 2 ; Valley of the Sacramento, September 20. Arriving at
Long Bar on the 10th of October, they established their camp on the south
bank of the Yuba River on Hayes Flat, a little below the Parks Bar bridge.
Mrs. Berry was the first white woman to venture this far, and the miners
journeyed from long distances to get a glimpse of her. ' According to her
chronicle of those exciting times, the letter carrier charged the modest sum
of $1 a letter to and from Marysville. A letter written by Mrs. Berry in the
spring of 1850 describes the winter as unusual in its severity. She speaks
of the inexhaustible wealth of the mines, but deplores the hardships of pioneer
life. "One thing alone, in this modern Eldorado," according to Mrs. Berry,
"has not been exaggerated. It is emphatically the land of flowers; the
whole surface of the earth is a gay pasture ; every hill, every vale speaks in
the language of flowers."
Here I must digress from the subject of this sketch and devote some
space to Mr. Berry. At this period he joined a company known as "The
Canal Company," organized for the purpose of draining Yuba River at this
point, and mining the river bed. The list of stockholders in the company
reads like a roster of Yuba's prominent pioneer settlers. They were : A. F.
Benedict, AY. H. Peck, J. B. Henderson, S. F. Daggett, George Boyd, C.
Hampton, S. M. Royen, C. E. Stone (afterward a Marysville physician),
D. H. Ferguson, J. F. Bigelow, and William Torrance.'
In the fall of 1850, Mr. Berry moved to Marysville and resumed the
practice of law, and likewise revived his interest in politics. He was a
member of the first legislature that met in San Jose, and was conceded to
be one of the most brilliant lawyers in the new State. Among his contem-
poraries of the bar in Marysville were : H. P. Haun, T. B. Reardon, C. E.
Filkins, G. N. Swezy, Charles H. Bryan, and Stephen J. Field. Following a
heated argument, which led to personalities, Mr. Berry challenged Mr.
Field to a duel, which was the accepted mode of settling difficulties in those
days. Field's apology was one of Mrs. Berry's cherished possessions. It
reads as follows:
"Mr. Field's compliments to Col. Berry, and he regrets that he indulged
in the remarks which led to the unpleasant occurrences of this morning. Mr.
Field desires that Col. Berry will likewise withdraw the offensive words used
by him on this occasion."
Aided by his scarcely less brilliant wife, Mr. Berrv's future seemed
most promising, when he was suddenly stricken, and died in Marysville on
July 2, 1853. The resolutions passed by the County Bar Association be-
speak the esteem m which he was held. His death left his widow with in-
sufficient means to raise her young sons and maintain her position in Marys-
ville's social life. After visiting her husband's people in New. York, she
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 209
returned to Marysville in 1856. At this period Judge Field desired to marc-
her, but she could never consent to anyone filling- the place of her cherished
husband. In a letter -written shortly before his death. Judge Field speaks
of Mrs. Berry as "a woman of great beauty, cultured mind, and varied ac-
complishments, and one of the most brilliant and charming women of
those earh r days."
In 1857, Mrs. Berry was engaged to teach the public schools in Smarts-
ville, and took up her residence in that then thriving town. An ardent
Southerner, her sympathies were with her beloved Southland when the Con-
federate States seceded. In her capacity as teacher, she was obliged to
teach the iron-clad oath of allegiance to the Union. She looked upon this as
the bitterest moment of her life. Prompted solely by the necessity of pro-
viding for her sons, Mrs. Berry proved a wonderful educator ; and even after
her retirement from the schools, in 1874, she conducted a private school until
age and physical disability forced her to relinquish such arduous labor. She
died after a short illness. February 7, 1899; and with her passing closed one
of the most interesting and eventful lives this section has ever known. A
charming personality, a mind which was veritably a storehouse of knowledge,
she was even in her less prosperous days ever the type of the "grand dame."
Sorrows and trials were often her portion; but she bore them with truly-
Spartan fortitude, as did all that noble band of pioneer mothers. How little
we of this later day realize what a debt we owe to our heroic parents who
braved such dangers and surmounted such difficulties, that we, their chil-
dren, might bask in the sunshine of this promised land !
TIMBUCTOO
Timbuctoo, related to the same town in Africa, is a suburb of Smarts-
ville. Due to the fact that a negro w r as one of the first to work one of the
ravines near the camp, the ravine was named Timbuctoo, and soon the name
attached itself to the settlement. The first mining was done in the ravines
near the town, in 1850. William Monigan, who later had a store in the
place, was one of the first to try his luck in the ravines. It was Monigan
and another man named L. B. Clark who were responsible for the christen-
ing of the place.
A number of cabins were early built in the vicinity, but the first dwell-
ing house was erected by AVilliam Gregory, early in 1855. A hotel was built
in 1855 by Jacob Duffird. It stood across the road from the post-office, and
was burned by the fire of 1878. Timbuctoo was the largest and most thriv-
ing locality in Rose Bar Towmship in 1859. At that time there were two
hotels, six boarding houses, eight saloons in addition to the bars in the hotels
and boarding houses, one bank, one drug store, two general stores, three
clothing and dry-goods stores, three shoe shops, one blacksmith shop, two
carpenter shops, one lumber yard, three bakeries, one livery stable, one bar-
ber shop, two cigar and tobacco stores, one theater, and a church.
Of this colony there now remain a few dwellings and the old building
in which AYells, Fargo & Company did business for years. The latter struc-
ture, up to a few years ago, was occupied by Chinese as a store and lodgings.
This brick structure, in the days of the express company, housed millions in
gold dust shipped from the mines in the vicinity. It is now in a stage of
dilapidation ; but the Native Sons of the Golden West have plans to restore
it. as being among the landmarks of the State deserving of preservation.
More extended description of this building is given in another chapter.
The vote of the Timbuctoo precinct was at one time as high as 800,
and the total population about 1200. In 1859 a fine wooden theater with a
basement was erected. It had a seating capacity of 800 and was frequently
210 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY;
occupied by traveling companies, which theretofore used an old church
The first school at Timbuctoo was conducted by a Mr. Potter in 1856. The
first public schoolhouse was built in 1862. In 1873 it was moved to Smarts-
ville and made an annex to the one at that place. 1 he cemetery lying just
west of the place was started in 1855.
SUCKER FLAT (FORMERLY GATESVILLE)
This place got its name, which at first was Gatesville, through the fact
that one of the early settlers, hailing from Illinois, was named Gates. A
store was started here in the winter of 1850 by a man named McCall. Rose
Bar was on the river and Sucker Flat was just back of it, the two places
beino- practically one. In 1851, the joint population was 300 men and five
women. The nearest post-office was at Parks Bar, a few miles below, and
on the opposite side of the Yuba River.
When Rose Bar and Parks Bar began to be worked out, and the hydrau-
lic mines were developed, Sucker Flat became quite a town and the other
bars were abandoned.
ROSE BAR
This bar had the honor of being the first where gold was discovered on
Yuba River. It received its name from John Rose, who came there in 1848,
from the American River. Accompanying the party was John Ray with his
wife and several children. This was the first family at the bar. It was
Jonas Spect, from Colusa, who found gold at this point, on June 2, 1848.
In the fall of 1848, John Rose and his partner, William J. Reynolds,
started a store at the bar. Rose did the buying at Sacramento, and in that
way the place came to be known as Rose Bar. When the miners began
to arrive from the East, it became a little crowded, and in the spring of 1849
a meeting was held at which it was decided that a claim should be 100 feet
square, and that the miner should be confined to his claim. Rose, Reynolds
and Kinloch, a young man they had taken into partnership, furnished beef
from their ranch in Linda Township.
In 1849 a company of fifty men, -among whom was William H. Parks,
who later represented this district in the legislature, and was a prominent
resident of Marysville, commenced to dam the river, so as to mine the bed.
They completed the dam and commenced work early in October. The rain
set in on the 8th, and in two days the water overflowed the dam and washed
it away. In the few days' work they had taken out $1000 each. A few days
before the destruction of the dam. Parks sold out and, with an experienced
baker,- started a store, bakery and boarding house.
During the year the bar became very populous, and in 1850 there were
2000 men working there. At that time there were three stores (one of which
was kept by Baxter & States), three boarding houses, two saloons, bakeries,
blacksmith shops, etc. The course of the river was turned seven consecu-
tive years, cleaning it up as a rich place to mine. It was later covered by
tailings. When the high water came in 1849, the miners moved back into
the ravines, where they found very rich surface diggings. Squaw Creek
was a very rich locality. One of these ravines was worked by the man
Gates, after whom Sucker Flat was at first named.
SICARD FLAT
Sicard Flat, still existing as a settlement, is a flat just back of Parks Bar
and the early-day Sicard Bar. It derived its name from Theodore Sicard,
who opened the mines. Work was commenced here in 1860, in the ravine,
where rich surface diggings were found. When the gravel mines were dis-
covered, Sicard Flat became a great hydraulic-mining point.
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 211
LONG BAR
This bar derived its name from the fact that it was the longest bar on
the river. It was developed about the first of October, 1849, by a company
of gold-seekers who were directed to the place by Major Cooper, of Benicia,
who was the pioneer of Parks Bar, in 1848. There were three girls in the
party, members of a family named Nash. They were the first females to
appear at the bar, and were recipients of the attentions of many young
miners, who oftentimes came miles to see them.
An amusing story is told of one young man who sought to make an
impression on the girls in the Nash family. At Sawmill Bar this young man,
a lawyer from Tennessee, named Wiley H. Peck — a handsome man, six feet
five inches tall — decided to make a call at the Nash home. In the rough
camp life of the mines, fine clothes were scarce, and facilities for making an
elegant toilet were few indeed. One Sunday morning Peck asked a lady
acquaintance to lend him a white towel that was hanging on the line at her
camp at Sawmill Bar. She readily assented, thinking he desired it to use
in making his toilet. After a little while he presented himself before the
astonished lady for her approval of his tout ensemble, as he was about to
pay a state visit to the Nash girls. He was faultlessly arrayed in a suit of
broadcloth that he had brought across the plains. The lady, commencing at
his carefully combed locks, could detect not a flaw in his "get-up" until she
came to his feet, when — lo ! what a sight! Having nothing with which to
encase his pedal extremities except heavy miner's boots, and being ashamed
to make a call with those unsightly things on his feet, he decorated his bare
feet with blacking to represent boots ! Also, the towel, instead of being
used in making his toilet, had been placed in his pocket, with the end pro-
truding to represent a white handkerchief. Thus arrayed, he had sallied
forth to "conquer or die."
Claims on Long Bar were taken tip so rapidly that by the spring of
1850 there were 1000 people there. Work here continued later than at many
other of the mining camps, although the place was not so rich as its two
great rivals, Parks and Rose Bars.
OREGON HOUSE
Oregon House, situated twenty-four miles from Marysville, on the
Camptonville road, is one of the landmarks of Yuba County. It was first
settled in 1850 by Larry Young, who built a log cabin in the valley at the
head of which the present house stands. The Oregon House was built in
1852. In January, 1853, on the anniversary of the battle of New Orleans, a
grand party was given at the Oregon House. This was the first party in
the hills. Two hundred fifty tickets were sold. There were eighteen ladies
present, which was a good showing for those days.
The Yuba Mountaineers
There was a military company organized in this locality during the
Civil War, and the Oregon House was the rallying point. They were called
the Yuba Mountaineers. The officers of this company in 1863 were: John
Brown, captain ; H. Camper, first lieutenant ; J. A. Clay, second lieutenant ;
J. A. Barnhart, third lieutenant; and W. Moon, first sergeant.
PARKS BAR
This point on the northeast side of Yuba River, fifteen miles above
Marysville, was one of the first spots where gold was found on that stream,
and was probably the richest of all the many bars so thickly spread along
its banks. David Parks, from whom the bar derived its name, came here on
September 8, 1848. He, with his family, consisting of his wife and several
212 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
children, was on his way overland when he was met by a train of Mormons
who informed him of the discovery of gold here. He at once altered his
course, and came to this place. Mrs. Parks was the first white woman to
arrive in the township.
Parks mined and kept a trading post and store, his customers being the
Indians and the many miners that now began to cluster about this spot.
Goods brought enormously high prices, especially among the Indians, who
knew little of the worth of gold dust and set great value upon beads and sugar,
which they used to buy from Mrs. Parks. They would give a tin cup even
full of gold dust for the same quantity of beads, and would buy sugar,
weight for weight.
The Parks family, with the exception of the sons David and John, re-
mained only about six months, and then returned to the States by way of
the Isthmus of Panama. They landed in New Orleans in the summer of
1849, being among the first, if not the first, to return to the East from the
gold region. The excitement was great at that time, and hundreds were
leaving on every steamer. When Parks went to the bank and exchanged
$85,000 in dust for coin, the excitement knew no bounds, and he was looked
upon as a living evidence of the reality of the gold discovery. So little was
known of the value of this dust, that he could obtain but $12 an ounce. His
sons, David and John Parks, remained in California and for some time were
prominent men of Marysville.
Early in 1849, the miners began to gather rapidly at this point, and the
bar soon became a populous and thriving town. It was very rich, and many
a hard-working miner returned from the bar to his Eastern home with a
golden belt. Dr. C. E. Stone, prominent physician in later days in Marys-
ville, was among the early settlers at Parks Bar. The place began to decline
in 1854, and each successive year thereafter saw it becoming more and more
deserted. Nothing now remains on the site of the once flourishing place.
SETTLEMENTS OF SHORT DURATION
Early-day settlements of comparatively short existence, some of which
have been mentioned in the foregoing, but are repeated here for convenience
of reference, were as follows :
In East and West Bear River Townships : Barham's Crossing, Trimble's
Crossing, Kempton's Crossing, Johnson's Crossing, Kearney, Camp Far
West, Wire Bridge (also known as McDonald's Mills), McCourtney's, Gra-
ham's, Melon's Hotel, Round Tent, Plumas Landing, Eldorado City (some-
times known as Messick Ranch), Reed's Station, McDonald's Distillery, and
Von Schmidt's Mill.
In Rose Bar Township: Spect's Camp, Cape Horn, Cordua Bar, Saw-
mill Bar, Lander's Bar, Kennebec Bar, and Sand Hill.
In Long Bar Township : Long Bar, Swiss Bar, Prairie Diggings, Six-
teen-mile House, Comstock Place, Galena House, Peoria House, Zinc House,
and Bowers' House.
In Parks Bar Township : Parks Bar, Sicard Bar, Sicard Flat, Barton's Bar,
Malay Camp, Union Bar, Clark Valley Ranch, Frenchtown, McQueen's Saw-
mill, Garden Ranch, Dry Creek Mill, Virginia Ranch, Bell Vallev, Enterprise
Mill, Martin Ranch, Golden Ball, Willow Glen House, and California House.
In New York Township : Natchez, New York House, New York Ranch
(or Flat), Ohio and Garden Ranch Flats, Mount Hope, Sharon Valley Mill,
Washington Mill, American Mill, Columbia Mill, Gnaggy Mill, Beaver
Ranch, Sawmill Cottage, Ross Ranch, Hansonville, Paige's Mill, Union Mill,
Jefferson House, White Sulphur Spring House (called sometimes Stewart),
New York Point, Clayton's Ranch, Washington Mill Huse, Jack's Ranch,
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 213
Union Hotel, Paulineville, Pike County House, Ohio Mill, Switzer's (or
Monitor Mill), Willow Glen, Pennsylvania House, Hedge's House, Plaskett's
Mill, and Woodville Mill.
In Foster's Bar Township : Foster's Bar, Bullard's Bar, Stony Bar,
Poverty Bar, Horse Bar, Rice's Crossing, Condemned Bar, Frenchman's
Bar, Missouri Bar, Negro Bar, Clingman's Point, English Bar, Vance Wing-
dam, Winslow Bar, Kanaka Bar, Long Bar No. 2, Oregon Bar, Pittsburg
Bar, Rock Island Bar, Elbow Bar, Missouri Bar No. 2, Mountain Cottage,
Keystone Hotel, Maple Springs House, Eagle Bird Hotel, Fountain House,
Riverside Hotel, McCrutch Place, Binninger's Ranch, and Labadie's.
In Northeast Township: Woodville House, Missouri Bar No. 1, Buck-
eye House, Eagleville, Willow Bar, New York Bar, Alabama Bar, Hamp-
shire Mill, Eagle Mill, Deadwood Mill, and Independence Mill.
In Slate Range Township : Garden Valley Ranch, Ferry Bar, Wisconsin
House, Junction House, Dad's Gulch, Young's Hill, Railroad Hill, Freeman's
Crossing, Galena Hill, Moonshine Creek, Oak Valley, Celestial Valley, Pitts-
burg Hill, Slate Range, and AVeed's Point.
CHAPTER XIX
WHO REMEMBERS?
When Marysville's jail was a small one-story adobe structure at the
loot of D Street?
When there was no street-railway connection between Marysville and
Yuba City, and the mode of conveyance was horse-drawn busses, the drivers
of which announced the time of departure by blowing a fish-horn, and were
so accommodating that they would, by appointment, stop for you in front
of your home, or at some designated shopping place, and toot the horn to
summon you to get aboard?
When "the Slough" required foot-bridges on Fifth Street, F to G; E
Street, Eighth to Tenth ; and Eighth Street, E to F ; and how those bridges
were trysting places for you and your girl on fair evenings?
When the faithful old colored man, named Watkins, announced auction
sales from the principal corners in the business and residence sections by
loudly and solemnly ringing a huge hand-bell, following with "Hear ye !
hear ye !" and then as solemnly chanting the time and location of the auction,
the auctioneer's name, and the nature of the goods to go "under the hammer,"
with an emphatic assurance that the time of opportunity had arrived for
those who sought bargains?
When Marysville had her "Father Wie Gehts" (William Landis), so
named for his persistency in greeting his friends in German? He invariably
appeared in a soft shirt, collar cut low, and roomy pantaloons tucked away in
great, heavy boots. Solidly built, he carried a cane which was allowed to
strike the sidewalk with a rhythm as he jogged along. When he did not
carry a cane it was his trusty shotgun that occupied his hands. For his exer-
cise, the procuring of which seemed to be his principal occupation, he walked
the levees about the city, or went far into the country to hunt wild game.
He knew where the birds abounded, and always came back with a well-
filled bag. When the vote on the first set of levee commissioners was can-
214 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
vassed, it was found that "Father Wie Gehts" had been chosen as one of three
to serve the city. He declined the office and refused to qualify. He didn't
have the time. The "call of the wild" for him.
When the city had another character — -"Blind Chandon," who, though
totally deprived of sight, made his way about the streets aided by his cane?
He knew every nook and cranny of the town, and never failed to recognize
the voice of a greeting friend, or acquaintance. In a horse trade (he followed
farming north of the city on the "Chandon Ranch") he was not to be de-
frauded. If any one lost out on the deal, it was the other fellow. Among
Chandon's friends and admirers was J. "Riley" Garrett, founder of the J. R.
Garrett Company of the present day. Garrett would drop a business deal
any time to perpetrate a joke. Noting that Jacob Tomb, a friend of both
Chandon and Garrett, was minus a button from his pantaloons front, Garrett
called Chandon and told him of Tomb's whereabouts and of the missing but-
ton. Chandon made his way at once to Tomb's position on the main corner
of the city and, before a crowd of Tomb's friends, derided him for his negli-
gence in dress. Fver after that it was difficult to convince Tomb that Chan-
don did not have at least a partial use of his eyes.
When, for many years, a wooden Indian was the sign for a Marysville
cigar store? This wooden Indian is now to be seen on Powell Street in
San Francisco, engaged in the same pursuit. During his stay in Marysville
he was the property of M. and M. A. Marcuse, who conducted a cigar store
on the "Western House corner."
When Cortez Square was surrounded with a low brick wall, surmounted
by a picket fence, and had turnstiles at its corners as entrances and exits?
When this same square was used as the show grounds for circuses, and
for amateur baseball and old-style football games?
When this same square, now a beautiful park, contained, in its center,
a building where State fairs were held?
When, sometimes, the vacant lot upon which now stands the Peffer
planing mill and the two dwellings to the north, now owned by the Peffer
heirs, was used for smaller circuses and small medicine shows?
When St. Joseph's Boys' School, at Seventh and C Streets, was a one-
story frame structure and had on both sides sidewalks desirable for games
of marbles, purg and mumbly-peg?
When the present site of the Peri Building on D Street was occupied
by the leading livery stable, with a board walk in front, over which the
clatter of the horses' hoofs, leaving and entering, could be heard for blocks?
When the present sites of the C. C. Hampton and Samuel Ewell resi-
dences on Sixth Street, D and Oak, were occupied as a Christian Brothers'
school, and when the. lot upon which now stands the Dr. J. L. Sullivan home,
and lots to the north thereof, were occupied by Miss Poston's private school?
When the Southern Pacific passenger depot was located in a one-story
brick building at the southwest corner of Sixth and A Streets, wdrere the
Southern Pacific Park now is, and how "Billy" Ward was "mine host" to
the hungry passengers on a "hurry up" schedule, said passengers being
summoned to the table by a bell rung by "Chub" Casey, as soon as the
trains came to a stop ?
When there were but two passenger trains into Marysville each day —
one from the north and one from the south — and the hotel busses met each
with drivers who so strenuously fought for the alighting passengers that
the police frequently had to take a hand?
When Owen Cunningham, who signed "R. O. C," was both freight
platform boss and baggage master for the Southern Pacific, and how we
HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY 215
kids had to "look out" that he didn't catch us digging into the sacks of nuts
and dried fruits left with him for consignment?
"When the ice for city consumption arrived each Friday evening from
Boca or Truckee in a box car dripping wet : how that dripping car was a
signal for the kids to assemble underneath it while it was being unloaded,
and there fight for the pieces that broke from the blocks ; and how the huski-
est lad always got enough of the broken pieces to turn into pocket money
at the nearest saloon ?
"When the ponds outside the Browns Valley grade were the favorite
swimming pools, where many a kid learned the art, and in the vicinity of
which were vineyards and orchards where the boys always could get their
fill of the fruit any day in fruit season?
When "Cass' Point," a projection into Ellis Lake about at Ninth and
D Streets, was "a good place to swim" ; and when the "Chinese Rafts" on
Feather River, west of the county hospital, proved a magnet for the boys
bent on swimming on a warm day?
"When the lot upon which the police station and city prison now stand
was occupied by a residence owned by a man named Carr, in front of which
images of two large dogs were kept ; and how Carr, when he removed to San
Francisco, took the dogs with him and planted them in front of a home
which he built in the metropolis?
When "old man Hatch" was janitor of the B Street grammar school,
and how, for years, he had as a faithful companion a brown dog which splen-
didly matched his complexion, and for which all the pupils always evinced
'.he greatest respect?
T. J. (Tom) Powers, who kept a saloon and billiard parlor on Second
Street, opposite the W T estern Hotel, and who daily displayed the flag of the
United States, or of some other country, as a reminder of some nation's
holiday, or the anniversary of some great battle, or other event of the past?
Harry Adkins, for years and years pressman in the office of the Marys-
ville Appeal, and Frank and Ed Cunningham, who were hand-set printers on
that paper for forty years?
George Harris ("Six-shooter George"), watchman and stage hand at the
old Marysville Theater for most of his life?
John Flattery, who kept a candy and notion stand in the Odd Fellows
Building, and who, seated in his one-hoss shay, attended every funeral,
always bringing up the rear?
When Walter E. Langdon, present police judge of Marysville, was
delivery clerk for "Jim" Rich, grocer of Wheatland ; and how he sought to
reform by becoming a news-gatherer for a Marysville paper, and then ad-
vanced along the line of reformation by becoming secretary for Marysville
Lodge of Elks and finally a police court magistrate?
Maurice J. Collis, son of Erin, who became the star reporter on the
Marysville Appeal, holding the position many years, until his death?
When the outlet for teams and wagons from Marysville to the east was
Simpson's Lane, an extension of Seventh Street at Yuba, and the bridge that
crossed the river in that lane, before the crossing was moved to its location
at the foot of E Street?
"Tennessee Bill" (AYilliam Goforth), who made frequent visits to both
Yuba City and Marysville, and raised his monstrous fog-horn voice to the
four points of the compass in support of his favored political candidate, and
generally landed in jail for disturbing the peace?
The annual picnic of St Joseph's Society and the trip by river steamer
down Feather River to Hock Farm, where the lads and lassies danced their
fill and the families of the two counties renewed friendships around the
216 HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY
lunches spread upon the grass, and where there were always several couples
to dance Irish jigs and Scotch hornpipes?
When Fifth Street, in the grain season, presented a long line of wagons
carrying Sutter County wheat and barley to the warehouses of the Buckeye
Mills Company for storage?
When A. Peri, founder of the Peri Dancing Academy in the Peri Build-
■ ing on D Street, Third and Fourth, thought three or "four months in the
summer season was the limit for selling' ice cream and ice cream sodas, and
closed that branch of his business for the remaining months of the year?
When "Uncle Obe" Sawtelle was collector of tolls on the D Street
bridge, and how deftly he manipulated the swinging gates on the Marysville
end of the bridge at the approach of a runaway team, thus avoiding damage
to the bridge and, at the same time, protecting rigs and drivers who were
already on the structure ?
When "Uncle Obe" Sawteile issued a pronunciamento that white cows
need not pay toll to cross the bridge, and then explained that the owners
of course would pay, and not the cows?
The old town pump and the watering-trough that stood so many years
at the corner of Bridge and Second Streets in Yuba City ; and "Uncle Cale"
Wilcoxon, who, with others, conducted the store on this corner, where old
cronies gathered to enjoy "Uncle Cale's" jokes and sallies?
When the boys switched the needle on "Uncle Cale" in the box that
looked so tempting as a seat to the weary?
When Yuba City's water-works comprised a 5000-gallon tank supported
by rough beams, and located on a lot on Second Street next to Jim Orr's
blacksmith shop ?
The history of that early landmark of Marysville, the huge iron ball
standing at the curb, at the intersection of Sixth and Elm Streets? This
ball was shipped from San Francisco in the early fifties by way of Marysville,
consigned to the mines. It was part of an arrastre to be used in crushing
gold ore. By the time it reached Marysville it was found to be damaged
and useless for the purpose for which it was intended. The teamsters de-
cided not to haul it further, and left if near its present location, in the stable
from which they started. The ball was shifted about, and finally was taken
charge of by the city authorities, who later substituted it for a corner post.
The year Jacob Guenther had the mail route between the railroad depot
and the Marysville post-office, and the spirited pony he drove attached to
his spring wagon, and how every other vehicle had to make way for "Jake"
when, in his haste, he turned the corner on two wheels?
Harry Keetly, express driver for Wells, Fargo & Company in Marys-
ville. who died after years spent in the company's service in the business
and residence districts?
BENNY LYNCH AND GENERAL SUTTER'S GUN
Photo by courtesy of Thomas A. McKenna, of San Francisco, formerly a
Y"uba County
ddent of Marysville
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
CHAPTER I
GENERAL SUTTER'S GUN
No more striking relic of the times when Yuba and Sutter Counties were
in the swaddling-clothes age is to be found anywhere than a gun owned by
Dr. J. H. Barr, of Yuba City, physician of Marysville and Yuba City and
collector of ancient and modern firearms. At first sight, this immense firearm
appears more a cannon than a gun. Six feet three inches in length and weigh-
ing thirty-five pounds, the weapon was used as a cannon by Gen. John A. Sut-
ter, after whom Sutter County was named. Mounted on a swivel, it many
times served to repel attacks made by the Indians in the very early days of
Sutter County, when General Sutter maintained his fort at Hock Farm,
nine miles south of Yuba City on the west bank of Feather River.
The immense gun was added to Dr. Barr's collection of firearms and
curios in September, 1895. The doctor has ever since steadfastly refused to
part with it. At one time the officers of the Grand Parlor of Native Sons of
the Golden West offered him $1000 for the relic, realizing its worth as a
souvenir of the days the memory of which the order seeks to perpetuate in
California's history.
Better than any story that can be written of the gun as to its authentic-
ity and record, is an affidavit which Dr. Barr always keeps attached to the
relic. This affidavit reads as follows :
"This gun being a most valued historical relic,, its authenticity is hereby
preserved by the following affidavit :
" 'David J. Kertchem being duly sworn says that the large gun with
swivel attachment and the words and figures "Moore, 1770" on barrel and lock
was originally the property of General John A. Sutter, and that it was one of
the guns that were mounted for defense and used for several years prior to
1868 in the fort at General Sutter's ranch on the Feather River, nine miles
south of Marysville, known as Hock Farm ; that the said gun became, in the
year 1870, the property of deponent's father, D. J. Kertchem, Sr., who in that
year, being the lessee of Hock Farm, received said gun as a present from the
son of General Sutter ; that the said gun remained in the possession of depon-
ent's family until the year 1895, when deponent presented it to Dr. J. H.
Barr. Signed, D. J. Kertchem, Jr.'
"Subscribed and sworn to before me this 30th day of September, A. D.
1898. G. W. Harney, Notary Public, Marysville, Yuba County, California."
Dr. Barr has another gun, a relic of General Sutter's days. It is an odd-
looking air rifle made in Vienna, Austria, and brought to this country by Gen-
eral Sutter from Switzerland. The barrel of this weapon, which carries a
small-caliber bullet, is of brass, and is covered with reed. The stock is taper-
ing, with a chamber of similar shape, into which air was pumped at a pressure
of 200 pounds to the square inch. It is of the type of gun that since has been
held to be unlawful to possess, on account of the absence of a report.
As the large gun represents the activities of early days in Sutter County,
the diminutive form alongside of it represents pioneer days in Yuba County.
The Lilliputian is Benny Lynch, Yuba's shortest male resident, who, when
220 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
asked his height, invariably replies: "The length of a cord stick and two
inches added," indicating that he is four feet two inches tall. Lynch, who
long has been a character on Marysville's streets, was born in Kentucky in
1848, and never grew much. He came to California in 1852, arriving in
Marysville with his parents on the same boat that brought to this city Col.
John O. Packard, who gave to Marysville the site and building known as the
Packard Free Library, situate at the northwest corner of Fourth and C
Streets. As a young man, he engaged with his brother, Hugh Lynch, in the
live-stock business. In his prime, which included many palmy days, he
could ride broncos "with any of 'em" ; and though not much for height, he
always held his own with the rough characters with which his business
brought him in contact.
CHAPTER II
SUTTER COUNTY
Sutter County was one of the original counties into which the State was
divided in 1850. At that time it included the southwestern portion of the
later created Placer County and a piece of territory along the west that now
belongs to Colusa County. Territorial changes — subtractions or additions —
were made in 1851, 1852, 1854, 1856 and 1866, before the boundaries were
finally fixed in their present location.
COUNTY SEAT AND COUNTY BUILDINGS
The law creating the county located the county seat at Oro, but that
place had no suitable building, so the Court of Sessions at its first meeting
decreed that the seat of government should be at Nicolaus until proper build-
ings were available at Oro. Early in 1851 the county seat was moved to Au-
burn, but in that year Auburn became the county seat of the newly created
county of Placer. Vernon then became the seat of government for Sutter
County, and so continued for about a year, when Nicolaus again attained the
coveted prize and retained it for two years. In the fall of 1854 a contested
election seems — the records are very obscure — to have given the county seat
to Yuba City for a few months, but later, on a final decision, to have returned
it to Nicolaus. In 1856, however, an election was held, under authorization of
the legislature, in which Yuba City was selected by a large majority as the
seat of government for the county; and it has so continued to the present clay.
Judge Keyser's Review
Perhaps in no way can a better description of the difficulties attending the
selection of the first county seat of Sutter County be given than by quoting
from a sketch written and delivered by Judge Phil W. Keyser, on the occa-
sion of the centennial celebration of the country's independence in 1876:
"The first county seat was Oro, which was a noble city of broad streets,
imposing buildings, and splendid public squares — on paper — but in fact a
tract of land fronting on the south bank of Bear Creek, and distant about two
miles from the then and present site of the good old town of Nicolaus. The
tract had been purchased from General Sutter by Thomas Jefferson Green,
who, with others who had become interested with him in the enterprise, had
had the land surveyed and laid off into streets, and squares, and lots ; and who,
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 221
as State Senator from the Senatorial district of which Sutter County formed
a part, caused this paper city to be declared by the legislature the county
seat of Sutter County. Green was a shrewd, energetic man, of a fine, impos-
ing presence, jolly, good-natured, frank, bluff-mannered, with pleasant coun-
tenance and persuasive tongue. It was necessary for him to bring all these
advantages into play, in order to carry his point. Auburn, Nicolaus, Vernon
and Yuba City were all aspirants for the honor, and expected benefits of the
county-seatship, while each was not only better fitted for it than Oro — which
was utterly unfitted — but was well entitled, by situation, improvements, and
its apparent future, to claim the distinction. Each, therefore, made the best
fight it could in the legislature against Oro and for itself ; but the active,
talkative, and merry-mannered Senator for the district won the day, and Oro
became the first county seat.
"A pleasant story, illustrative of the Senator's modus operandi, is told
in connection with the history of that contest. Bear Creek — or River, as it
was sometimes called — was in those days a small but pretty stream, quietly
and lazily wandering through the foothills down to the plains, where it me-
andered between well-defined and well-wooded banks, its calm flow disturbed
and impeded by trees and underbrush growing thickly in the midst of its
clear waters, to Feather River, with which it formed a junction at a point
a mile or two above Nicolaus. Of course it was unnavigable to all but small
oar-boats, while the large river steamers, of which the largest and finest at
that time was named the 'Senator,' could even at the highest waters scarcely
enter its mouth. Green, however, in describing, during the discussion of
the county-seat question, the advantages of his town of Oro, spoke of the
splendid river on which it was situated, the waters of which (he asserted),
when at the lowest stage of a long and dry summer, could be easily navigated.
A brother Senator, who knew Green's weakness for hyperbole, interrupted by
asking him if he meant to say that the river steamers could navigate Bear
River at its lowest stage of water. 'I mean to say,' replied Green, 'that the
Senator can navigate it at any time of the year.' After adjournment one ac-
cused him of having — to put it mildly — stretched the truth in saying that a
steamer like the 'Senator' could navigate Bear River. T never said,' answered
Green, 'that the steamer "Senator" could; I said the Senator could, but I
meant the Senator who had asked the impertinent question.'
"Oro, however, enjoyed the honor — if it enjoyed it at all — but a short
time. There was not a house or a building in the town for any purpose, much
less for holding court, the transaction of county business, and the preserva-
tion of public records. Some preparation must be made by the owners of the
town to enable the first term, at least, of court to be held at the county seat ;
and to this end they erected, or rather placed upon the ground, a zinc build-
ing, about twenty by twenty feet in size, with a floor of rough boards, a roof
of zinc — if I remember correctly — and holes cut for the Court, the litigants,
the witnesses, the jurors, and the air, but without glass or shutters for the
windows, or doors for the entrances. Not a tree, or bush, or shrub, grew near
enough to give its shade to the building. A May sun poured its rays upon
that zinc building, until outside and inside it became almost as hot as the
furnace of Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego. Law and equity, lawyers and
litigants, jurors and witnesses, with a spontaneity of action that would
astonish nothing but a salamander, rushed out of and fled that building,
never again to return."
County Courthouse
The first permanent courthouse in Yuba City was erected in 1858 and
continued in use until 1871, when it was destroyed by fire. A new and better
building was completed in 1872. This also was almost completely destroyed
222 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
by fire in. 1899. It was rebuilt, however, and is still in use, with alterations
made to it in 1922-1923, when a room was added for jurors on the upper floor
at the rear of the court room, the county treasurer's quarters were enlarged,
and the jail made more secure.
The building has brick walls, but the floors and much of the interior
finish are of wood, and it cannot be considered fireproof. All of the county
offices, except those of the clerk, auditor-recorder, and district attorney, are
in this building. The offices of the first-named two are in the Hall of Records,
on the north side of the Courthouse, while the district attorney, in April, 1923,
was given more spacious quarters in the then newly constructed Von Geldern
Building on Second Street, south of the Courthouse.
Hall of Records
The Hall of Records, completed in 1892, is constructed of brick and stone,
with a concrete floor and iron doors. It consists of a main office, where the
records are kept, and two smaller offices on either side of the entrance. The
fixtures are of metal, and of the type usually found in such buildings.
The Courthouse and Hall of Records are well isolated from other build-
ings, occupying half of a large block, and being surrounded upon all sides
by extensive lawns.
Nicolaus, Auburn and Vernon as County Seat
Reverting to the days when Nicolaus, Auburn and Vernon were playing
the "on again, off again" game on the county-seat question, it should be ex-
plained that when court was first held in Nicolaus a private residence was
used. At Auburn a place was provided by citizens.
June 2, 1851, when the county seat was settled at Vernon, the following
appears on the record of the Court of Sessions: "William B. Olds appeared
in behalf of E. O. Crosby, and made a tender of two buildings in the town
of Vernon for the use of the county, free of charge." Court was, however,
held in the hotel owned by Captain Savage. Only one prisoner was confined
there, and he was made secure by putting him in one of the rooms with a
chain around his leg, the other end of the chain being passed through a hole in
the wall and made fast by a clog.
After the return of the county seat to Nicolaus, the American Hotel
served as a place for holding court, and for the offices of the county officers,
until 1855. From that time until the county seat. was removed to Yuba City,
Frederick Vahle's house was used for these county purposes. Sutter County
had as yet no jail, and prisoners had to be conveyed to Marysville, and con-
fined in the Yuba County jail, entailing considerable additional expense.
The Courthouse Fire of 1871
We have referred to the destruction of the Courthouse at Yuba City by
fire in 1871. An account of this fire is given in the Sutter County Banner,
under the date of December 23, 1871, as follows :
"Between three and four o'clock, Wednesday morning, December 20, the
Courthouse was discovered to be on fire, and was soon entirely consumed.
Some of the officers succeeded in saving the valuable contents of their offices.
The safes in the various offices and the vault preserved their contents, though
in some cases somewhat injured. The treasurer's safe contained $38,000,
which was recovered. All the documents that had been filed for record since
October were burned, and many old books of the county and some court rec-
ords were destroyed. The district attorney lost nearly everything in his office
while the contents of the sheriff's office were saved. The building was insured
for $5000. By some; the fire was supposed to have been an incendiary one,
while others believed it to be accidental. It originated in the county clerk's
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 223
office, where work had been suspended at eight o'clock the evening before,
and the generally accepted version is that the fire was caused by mice gnaw-
ing the heads of matches that had been left in the office."
Details of the Fire of 1899
An insane prisoner detained for commitment in a padded cell on the
lower floor of the Courthouse started the fire that destroyed that building in
April, 1899. The Sutter County Farmer of April 28, 1899, records the fol-
lowing details of the conflagration :
"By the acts of an insane man the Sutter County Courthouse was de-
stroyed by fire last Friday night, leaving nothing but brick walls and black-
ened ruins representing the $25,000 building which has been the headquarters
for county business for the past twenty-seven years. About two o'clock in
the morning, Deputy Sheriff C. B. Fields, who slept in the room adjoining
the sheriff's office, was awakened by stifling smoke. Running into the main
corridor, Fields saw flames shooting out of a small grated window of the in-
sane ward, in which was confined Richard Wills, a Cornishman, who was in
custody awaiting commitment to the Stockton asylum. Fields gave the alarm
and dashed a number of buckets of water through the window. The night
watchman 'and J. L. Wilcoxon soon arrived on the scene, also W. H. Camp-
bell, H. P. Fulton, Thomas Giblin and others. An effort was made to get the
Cornishman out. The outer door of his cell was unlocked and the door to
the padded cell broken down. For a moment nothing, but flames and stifling
smoke could be seen ; but by throwing a lot of water into the interior, the un-
fortunate man's body was found lying in the corner of the cell on its back,
burned and charred in a horrible manner. It was impossible at that stage to
recover the remains.
"The fire by this time was creeping to the second story. Hose from the
water works was secured, and the pumps started ; but the fire could not be
reached by the inadequate stream. All the county officers were soon on the
scene. All bent their efforts to get out the records from their offices, assisted
by citizens in large number. The offices of the district attorney, sheriff, as-
sessor, treasurer, and surveyor, being on the first floor, were easy of access,
and with few exceptions the books, papers, records, etc., were carried out.
On the second floor, it was not so easy. A ladder was raised to a window of
the school superintendent's office, and Superintendent Kline succeeded in sav-
ing his ledger, account books, minute book and other papers. He, however,
lost his maps and a number of reports. From the Superior Court room noth-
ing was saved. The furnishings of the supervisors' room and the desk and
papers of the board of directors of Eevee District No. 1, including old vouch-
ers and record books, were also burned. During the fire the big safe in the
office of Assessor McRae went through the floor into the basement. Not,
however, before McRae had emptied it of its contents. A stream of water
poured on the safe in the treasurer's office saved the papers and records that
were not taken out of it earlier. The sheriff also recovered his papers intact.
The jail on the west side of the building was not destroyed,- but the bedding
was partially burned. Coroner P. W. Rowe, assisted by Coroner Hopkins
of Yuba County, recovered the remains of Wills when the ruins of the build-
ing had cooled off. Acting on the coroner's jury were W. E. Tucker, foreman,
H. C. Clark, C. J. White, S. D. Jones, Edwin White, and R. C. Kells."
The county officers were forced to take temporary quarters in the Hall
of Records. The necessity of fire-plugs for Yuba City, and reels of hose on
both floors of the Courthouse, from then on became apparent.
224 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
SUTTER COUNTY BUTTES
The Buttes that form such a prominent feature in the landscape of
Sutter have been known by various names since they came to the
knowledge of white men. They were spoken of by Fremont in 1843 as "The
Three Buttes." In the grants made to Captain Sutter, they are called
"los tres picos." Later they were called "Sutter's Buttes" and "Marysville
Buttes," but are now generally spoken of as the "Sutter County Buttes."
The County of Butte, which adjoins Sutter County on the north, re-
ceived its name from these noted peaks, although at that time they were in
Sutter County. In 1852, the boundary between these two counties was
changed so as to include the Buttes in Butte County ; but tw r o years later
they were restored, and have ever since been a part of Sutter County.
They are undoubtedly of volcanic origin, and form but one link in a
chain of volcanic peaks, being distinguished, however, from the others by
rising abruptly from the plain, apparently disconnected from the others, and
standing like ever wakeful sentinels to guard the slumbering valley. That
they are of no recent formation is evident ; they bear the same marks, fossils,
etc., as are found on Mt. Diablo and the Coast Range. A scientist who
recently surveyed them, in connection with borings being made for oil,
declared that the Buttes are older by a million years than the Coast Range.
In his opinion they at one time were part of an island projecting from
the surface of the ocean.
The Buttes consist of three principal peaks, called North Butte, South
Butte, and East Butte — the highest with an altitude of about 1800 feet —
and a great number of lesser peaks lying between and around them. From
different points of observation they present various forms — three peaks,
however, always appearing as the characteristic feature — the alteration in
their aspect being caused by the difference in the contour of their several
sides, and the appearance of the smaller hills.
A narrow valley running through the Buttes from east to west is known
as the South Pass. This is a portion of the old stage road running from
Marysville to Colusa. In another chapter is described a monument dedi-
cated on April 15, 1923, to the memory of John C. Fremont, the "Pathfinder,"
and placed in the pass on the spot where Fremont camped in 1846.
We find the following remarks in Volume 3, page 486, of Hutchings'
California Magazine : "This mountain towers boldly out like a large island
above the plain upon which it stands, to the height of 1800 feet, and is
almost as grand a landmark to the residents of this latitude as Mt. Diablo
is to those of San Francisco."
Mineral Deposits
The Marysville Herald, in its issue of July 24, 1851, said that "Butte
Hill," near the big butte, was yielding to miners from $6 to $20 per day,
that the number of miners was increasing daily, and that a company of three
took out a pound and a quarter of gold in one day.
In 1867 three small veins of coal were found on the west side of the
Buttes, and later more was discovered on the east side on the farm of S.
Moody. Only small quantities were taken out, and the idea of finding coal
there in commercial quantities has long ago been abandoned.
CLIMATE AND WATER SUPPLY
While the high yield of every crop grown in Sutter County can be
very largely attributed to the superior soil and abundant water supply that
are among the county's prominent advantages, the superior quality of its
present-day agricultural products is in large measure due to still another
factor, California's sun-kissed climate, the magical wonder-worker that is
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 227
responsible for 'the marvelous advancement in the State's agricultural and
horticultural interests. To the dry, warm, rainless and fogless days, are due
the flavor, and the blush upon the cheek, of Sutter County's deciduous and
citrus fruits. During the winter the thermometer seldom goes below thirty
degrees above zero, and a trace of snow once in twelve or fifteen years is
about the average. The rainy season is expected to last from October to
April, with an average rainfall of about twenty-three inches. A storm with
a precipitation of from one to three inches is usually followed by a few days
of warm, sunshiny weather, even in midwinter.
Irrigation
While practically every crop can be grown without irrigation in Sutter
County, experience of years has demonstrated beyond all question that irri-
gation pays handsomely. The tendency is constantly in the direction of
more irrigation ; and the artificial application of water to field crops, as
well as to orchards and vineyards, is increasing rapidly, because there is no
doubt that yields have been considerably increased and the quality of prod-
ucts materially improved through irrigation.
In speaking of this section of California in 1922, Prof. Elwood Meade,
recognized as the foremost authority on irrigation in this State, said : "The
available water supply of this valley ought to make it the Egypt of the
Western Hemisphere."
At comparatively small expense, an abundance of water for irrigation
purposes seems ahead for Sutter County. Both the Sacramento and Feather
Rivers furnish an inexhaustible supply to those living along their banks ;
and a pumping plant easily and cheaply lifts the water into the distributing
ditches. Hundreds of landowners already have sunk wells and are irrigating
with pumps driven by electricity, as power lines reach to about every nook
and corner of Sutter County.
RECLAMATION AND LEVEE DISTRICTS
Reclamation projects, past and present, have worked wonders for Sutter
County. Of reclamation districts the county, at the present time, has nine,
besides being subject to assessments under the great flood-control plan of
the State known as the Sacramento and San Joaquin Assessment No. 1,
and Sutter-Butte By-pass Assessment No. 6.
Names and Locations of Districts
The names and locations of the reclamation districts are as follows :
District No. 70, near Meridian ; District No. 777 , in the Live Oak section ;
District No. 803, on the old Rideout ranch and between Marcuse and the
tules; District No. 1000, partly in Sutter County and partly in Sacramento
County; District No. 1001, located partly in Placer County, and along Bear
River south to Vernon; District No. 1500, being the Sutter Basin Project;
District No. 1660, located north of District No. 1500; District No. 2054, located
in the northern portion of the county in the old Snake River and Morrison
Slough section, being partly in Butte County ; and District No. 2056, which
adjoins District No. 2054.
Besides the reclamation districts, there are two levee districts, No. 1
and No. 9. District No. 1 extends from Yuba City south to the Marcuse
levee, and westward. District No. 9 lies to the north of Yuba City and
extends westerly. Its levee joins that of District No. 1 near Franklin Corners.
The Sutter Basin Project
Of the reclamation districts in Sutter County, District No. 1500 is the
largest, covering 66,200 acres, of which the Sutter Basin Company owns
228 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
approximately 45,000 acres, giving it the generally accepted name of "Sutter
Basin Project."
Prior to its purchase by the present owners, Sutter Basin was an over-
flow basin of the Sacramento and Feather Rivers, covered by a sea of tules.
It was like several other large areas of bottom land of the Sacramento Valley,
which have since been reclaimed and are now reckoned among the richest
soils in the State.
The Sutter Basin Company had a careful survey of this area made by
experts, and decided that the natural richness of the soil would well repay
for its reclamation. Accordingly, development work was started. Today the
district (created by the California legislature of 1913) is entirely surrounded
by substantial levees, averaging 250 feet at the base. Provision for the
carrying away of flood water that formerly filled the Basin was made by
the construction of the Sutter By-pass in conformity to the general flood con-
trol plan adopted by the Federal government and the State of California.
All reclamation works were carried out on plans approved by the California
State Reclamation Board.
To carry off water that fell within the district, and seepage water, a
complete drainage system was built. It includes a main canal of 18 miles,
54 T /2 miles of lateral canals, and 190 miles of sub-lateral canals, with a gigan-
tic pumping plant consisting of six 50-inch pumps, each operated by a
800-horse-power motor, at the lower end of the district, with a capacity of
480,000 gallons per minute, so that every acre of land within the district is
amply drained at all seasons of the year.
It was the policy of the company to crop the land from the beginning
for the twofold purpose of helping to pay development expenses and to
prove the soil. In fact, the first year the pumping plant was completed, even
before the levees had been finished, the company's lands were cropped. That
year the Basin filled up as usual, but the pumping plant was able to empty
it in twenty-one days. Pumps were started on the 25th day of May, and.
by the 15th of June planting of beans was begun. That year the Basin pro-
duced a large crop of beans, and each year thereafter.
In addition to carrying through a safe reclamation plan, the Sutter Basin
Company pioneered in providing a thorough system of irrigation for its river-
bottom lands. The owners became convinced from investigation and obser-
vation, that while river-bottom lands will give good returns without surface
irrigation, the application of water would pay. Accordingly, an irrigation
as complete as the drainage system was built. It was used for the first time
in the season of 1919. This system includes a pumping plant at the upper
end of the district, consisting of three 42-inch pumps, each operated by a
250-horse-power motor, capable of delivering 48,000 gallons of water per
minute, and three 42-inch pumps, each operated by a 300-horse-power motor,
capable of delivering 56,000 gallons of water per minute, the total capacity
of the plant being 312,000 gallons per minute.
In addition to the main pumping plant, there is an auxiliary plant at
State Ranch Bend with one 24-inch pump operated by a 200-horse-power
motor, with a capacity of 20,000 gallons per minute ; also a pumping plant
at Portuguese Bend with two 24-inch pumps, each operated by a 200-horse-
power motor and having a total capacity of 40,000 gallons per minute.
All irrigation water is pumped from the Sacramento River. The main
irrigation canal is sufficiently large, and carries enough water, to float a
river steamer. Laterals and sub-laterals carry gravity water to every acre
•of land owned by the company. The entire west edge of the district lies
along the Sacramento River, which provides transportation by boat and
barge. In addition, however, the Southern Pacific Railway has built a line
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 229
through the heart of the district, eighteen miles north and south, and there
are several grain warehouses and vegetable packing houses built along this
line. Roads from all parts of the district afford ample connection between
the farming lands and the railroad.
The soil is an alluvial deposit, commonly known as river bottom, the
result of ages of silt-wash from the Sacramento and Feather Rivers. The
crops that have been grown there are indicated in the preceding paragraph.
The climate is the good growing climate, with a long growing season, which
characterizes the Sacramento Valley.
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AND INDUSTRIES
A list of Sutter County's crops would read like an index to a nursery
catalogue, with a few extras thrown in for good measure. Experience seems
to show that peaches, prunes, cherries, almonds, grapes (seedless for drying
and for the table), plums, figs, beans, grain, and rice hold the most important
places in public favor.
Other products, of lesser prominence, are pears, oranges, lemons, pome-
granates, apples, walnuts, olives, corn, and vegetables of all kinds.
Dairying and poultry-raising are conducted on an extensive scale and
yield large returns. Dairy cows, poultry and hogs run on green feed the entire
year, the mild and snowless winters being ideal for stock of all kinds. When
the ground is too wet, during the rainy season, to permit stock to be pas-
tured on alfalfa, they are fed from open racks in the corrals.
Creameries are within easy reach of the dairymen. Auto trucks are sent
out to the principal dairy sections to pick up the cream and milk right at
the dairyman's door. Large quantities of cream are also shipped by fast
electric trains and steam trains to creameries at Marysville, Sacramento, and
other near-by cities. Sutter County offers unusual opportunities to dairymen,
and because of this opportunity this industry has increased several-fold dur-
ing the last few years.
TRANSPORTATION
Frequent, rapid and convenient transportation is a live issue in any
progressive and hustling community. Here, again — and literally speaking —
Sutter County "delivers the goods." Exceptional land and water transporta-
tion facilities keep every corner of the county in intimate touch with the
world and its markets. Two steam railroads, the Southern Pacific and
Western Pacific, pass through the county; one electric railway, the Sacra-
mento Northern, connects with boats and another electric line at Sacramento
for San Francisco ; and the Sacramento River, which bounds Sutter County
on one side for some fifty miles, while having practically no passenger busi-
ness, yet conveys millions of dollars' worth of farm products to Sacramento
and San Francisco. Street-car service between Yuba City, the county seat
of Sutter County, and Marysville, the county seat of Yuba County, a mile
away, across the Feather River, is maintained by the Sacramento Northern
Railroad. In order to convey an idea of the present splendid transportation
facilities of the county, it is only necessary to say that there are about
forty steam and electric trains passing through the county daily.
In addition to its present road system, the county has been engaged,
since 1922, in building a complete system of concrete highways, such as will
give to every part of the county the best roads that money and engineering
skill are able to produce.
Early Ferries and Toll Bridges
As a contrast to modern-day methods of transit, an account of across-
river transportation in the early days may be of interest here. The first
ferry in Sutter County was established in 1843 by Captain Sutter and Nico-
230 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
laus Allgeier, at the crossing of the Feather River, near the town of Nicolaus.
This ferry was on the route from Sutter Fort to Hock Farm. In 1849 All-
geier had' a man named Ljntner to operate the ferry, during which year a
new and large boat was .constructed.
The first ferry license was granted by the Court of Sessions, on June 11,
1850. It was a license granting Samuel S. Bayless and Sarshel Woods the
privilege for one year of keeping a ferry across Feather River, immediately
above the mouth of the Yuba, and establishing the following rates of toll:
For one wagon, empty, $2; freight, per cwt., 12^4 cents; mules, cattle and
horses, per head, 50 cents ; foot passengers, 25 cents ; man and horse, 75 cents.
The same day, a license was granted to F. Hereford and J. P. Jones
to operate a ferry for one year across Sacramento River between the towns
of Vernon and Freemont, with the same rates.
On November 19, 1850, the license to S. S. Bayless and S. Woods for a
ferry at Yuba City was cancelled, and a new one was issued to Elias Bay-
less and James Irving.
On June 18, 1851, the licenses for ferries at Nicolaus, Vernon and Yuba
City were renewed, with a change in the rates of toll. There appears to
have been no settled rate for all places, as these three, all granted the same
day, varied considerably, with the difference chiefly in favor of Vernon.
On April 12, 1852, James G. Morehead was granted a license to operate
a ferry across Sacramento River opposite Knight's Landing ; and on June 7,
C. D. Semple was given a license for one across Sacramento River from
the town of Colusa to a point in Sutter County.
On December 6, 1852, J. L. Burtis and Claude Chana were granted a
license for the construction and operation of a ferry across Bear River at the
place known as Burtis, or Chana's Ranch.
Stephen H. Winter received a license, August 1, 1853, for a ferry across
Sacramento River, at a point two miles below Butte Creek. He had run it
without a license since the previous October, for which he was fined $30.
Before the county was able to go into the bridge-building business, a
dozen other ferries were established by private parties, including one to
accommodate the Marysville-Colusa stage line.
Toll bridges were the next means used for crossing the streams. These
took the place of the ferry boats, except where they would be an obstruc-
tion to navigation, until they in turn gave way to free bridges built at the
expense of the county. The first license for a toll bridge was granted on
August 1, 1851, to John Barham at Barham's Crossing. The rates of toll
were fixed as follows: Six-horse, -ox or -mule team, $1.50; ditto, empty, $1.00;
four-horse, -ox or -mule team, $1.00; ditto, empty, 75 cents; two-horse, -ox or
-mule team, 75 cents; same, empty, 50 cents; horse and buggy, 50 cents;
pack animal, 25 cents; foot passenger, \2y 2 cents ; loose stock, per head, \2y 2 -
cents ; hogs, sheep and goats, per head, 6j4 cents.
On October 6, 1851, J. L. Burtis and W. B. Campbell received a license
to keep a bridge across Bear River at the town of Kearney, or Johnson's
Crossing.
On December 9, 1854, Samuel Crawford was granted a license to keep
a toll bridge across Bear River at Kempton's Crossing. The bridge was built
the year before.
The only chartered toll bridge across Feather River was erected by
George M. Hanson from Yuba City to Marysville in 1853, being completed
in September. It was a cheap truss bridge, about 350 feet in length, and cost
$20,000. In 1854, one span broke down under the weight of a drove of cattle,
but was soon repaired. At this time John C. Fall became one of the proprie-
tors. The next year W. S. Webb, proprietor of an opposition ferry line, be-
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 231
came a part-owner of the bridge. It was reconstructed in 1859. During the
flood of 1861, the bridge was carried away while two teams were crossing,
injuring one man slightly.
For many years thereafter, Marysville and Yuba City people were accom-
modated by a strongly built covered bridge across Feather River, which struc-
ture was removed in the year 1905 to make way for the combination wagon
and railroad bridge erected by the Northern Electric Company in conjunc-
tion with the counties of Yuba and Sutter.
OTHER ADVANTAGES
Sutter County has the honor of having been the first "no-saloon" county
in the State of California ; and its communities are correspondingly law-
abiding. It has fewer criminal cases than any other county in the State. It
is the home and nursery of the famous Thompson Seedless Grape industry. It
is likewise the home and nursery of the famous Phillips Cling Peach, and
the largest cling-peach-growing section in the State. It is the county where
oranges and lemons ripen six weeks earlier than hundreds of miles farther
south ; the county where from four to six crops of alfalfa are produced annu-
ally ; and the county where the soil responds more readily to your efforts,
and returns larger profits for the money expended.
Fish, and Wild Game
Aside from the purely commercial side of the Sacramento and Feather
Rivers, these two great waterways give ample opportunity for hunting,
fishing and boating. Salmon, catfish and carp are plentiful in these streams,
and furnish sport, in season, for those who are devoted to the rod and reel.
The sloughs, running off from the main rivers, are famed for their excellent
bass-fishing ; and not far away are the mountain streams and lakes, which
are among the finest trout-fishing spots in all the world. These same moun-
tains abound in all manner of wild game, ranging from doves, quail and
rabbits in the lower foothills, to deer in the higher altitudes.
Wild ducks and geese make the rivers and sloughs their winter feeding
grounds. In the fall great flocks of these migratory birds sail down from
the North and feed upon the abundant growth in the waterways. As the time
approaches when the law will permit the shooting of these birds, hunters
come from hundreds of miles, and take part in one of the greatest sporting
events of the year. Many hunting clubs own their own grounds at West
Butte and other points in the county.
232 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
CHAPTER III
NATIVE INDIAN TRIBES
Before the founding of Yuba City by the white man, the very earth upon
which stand today some of the town's most beautiful residences, and its busi-
ness houses and civic buildings, was the setting for an Indian village. The
Indians who had their habitation where Yuba City now stands were known
as the Yubas. Remains of their homes, and of their personal adornments and
weapons, have been unearthed by workmen while they were excavating for
modern buildings in Yuba City.
Like all the aborigines of California, the Yubas have melted away at
the advent of civilization, until now the sight of one of their race on the
streets of the towns and cities that have risen where their villages were, is a
rarity, and indeed a curiosity.
The Yubas at the site of Yuba City consisted of about 125 Indians. Lo-
cated in Shanghai Bend, on the Feather River between Yuba City and Hock
Farm, was another Indian village, that of the Seshums. The largest village
in what is now Sutter County was that of the Hocks, near John Sutter's resi-
dence. From this tribe has been derived the name Hock Farm. The com-
munity of Yokulemnes was three miles south of Hock Farm, while the
Olashes lived one mile above Nicolaus.
On the site of Marysville were the Memals, who moved to the east bank
of the Yuba River when Cordua settled near their village. North of the pres-
ent city of Marysville were the Tomchats.
The ruins of an iron structure, known as Sutter's Fort, now lie on Hock
Farm. It was originally built by Sutter as a workhouse, but was used as a
fortification at times against Indian' attacks upon the white settlers.
One of the first white men to travel the Sacramento Valley, in an account
of his journey, told how, in the early part of the year 1833, the banks of the
Sacramento River and the contiguous territory swarmed with Indian life.
On his return, late in the year, the villages were found deserted. A plague,
which was thought by the traveler to be smallpox, had attacked the natives,
and their bodies and skeletons lay on the ground in great numbers. An inter-
mittent fever that the "medicine man" could not combat also claimed many of
the Indians, the ancestors of whom can be traced back to 1832 and 1833.
Ethnologists have written and theorized with reference to the California
Indians, but have as yet come to no satisfactory conclusion regarding either
the place whence they immigrated or the date of their actual settlement on
the Pacific Coast. It is perhaps sufficient to know that when the first white
man passed through the Sacramento Valley, he found the Indian villages
swarming with the rude barbarians.
Bancroft, in his "Native Races of the Pacific States," divides the Indians
of the Coast into seven, distinct groups. The Californians comprised one of
the important branches, occupying the territory between latitudes 43 degrees
and 32 degrees 30 minutes north, and extending east into the Rocky Moun-
tains. This group is subdivided into geographical divisions ; namely : the
Northern Californians, the Central Californians, and the Southern Califor-
nians. The early inhabitants of this region belonged to the central division,
which occupied all of California and extended from about latitude 35 degrees
to latitude 40 degrees 30 minutes north. The races in this region were sepa-
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 233
rated into numerous small tribes, whose system of nomenclature was exceed-
ingly primitive. The segregation of these Indians was not properly a segrega-
tion into tribes, but into villages, each having its own name and head. Some-
times one chief would be more powerful than other neighboring chiefs in
physical strength, number of warriors, or hereditary influence, and hence had
authority over villages near his, as in the case of the ruler of the Hocks.
From the report of Adam Johnson, Indian sub-agent, to the Department
of the Interior in 1850, we cull the following: "I could discover no distinction
in their customs, habits of life, or their general language, which could induce
me to think they were not originally the same people. Indeed, their customs
and manners of living are, in many respects, almost identical."
Johnson's List of the Tribes
From June to the middle of September, 1850, Johnson, as the govern-
ment's agent, traveled more than 800 miles through the Sacramento Valley,
and along the banks of the rivers. He visited ten distinct tribes of Indians,
besides meeting many wandering families or communities. The following is
a list of the tribes visited in the valley and the neighboring mountains :
The Hocks : Located upon Hock Farm, near the old residence of Captain
Sutter, numbering from eighty to 100.
The Yubas : At or near the junction of the Yuba and Feather Rivers,
numbering about 180.
The O-Lip-Pas : On Feather River, about thirty-two miles above its
mouth, comprising about ninety or 100 people.
The Bogas : A short distance above the O-Lip-Pas, on the opposite side
of the river, including about seventy persons.
The Ho-Lil-Li-Pahs : . At the base of the mountains near the Feather
River, about 150 in number.
The Erskins : On Butte Creek, near Neal's Rancho, comprising about
eighty Indians.
The Ma-Chuck-Nas : In the valley near Potter's Rancho, including about
ninety people.
The Cush-Nas : Dwelling in the mountains on the south Yuba, and
numbering about 600 Indians.
The Tagus : Also in the mountains, above the headwaters of Butte
Creek, the number being unknown.
The Nim-Sus : Also living in the mountains, in the vicinity of the Tagus
tribe; number unknown.
Locations of Tribes According to Bidwell
General Bidwell located the villages of the native tribes in what is now
Sutter County, as follows :
Yubas: Where Yuba City is now situated, numbering from 100 to 125.
The Seshums: Located in Shanghai Bend, on the Feather River, be-
tween Yuba City and Hock Farm.
The Hocks: Located near Sutter's residence; this was the largest vil-
lage in what is now Sutter County.
The Yokulemnes : Situated three miles below Hock Farm.
The Olashes : Located about one mile above Nicolaus, on the west bank.
No permanent villages were located on the eastern bank of the Sacra-
mento River, on account of the lands being subject to overflow. There were
no other tribes in Sutter County, although the Colusi, Coptis, Willys and
Kymatins ranged through the country around the Buttes.
Location and Description of Other Tribes
In Yuba County, on the site of Marysville, was a village of Indians called
the Memals. It was of good size, being populated by about 100 Indians.
234 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
When Cordua settled there, some of these Indians located on the south side
of the Yuba (in 1843).
The Tomchats were located a little above, on the east side of the Feather
River, but not immediately upon the banks. The distance from the mouth of
the Yuba River was about two miles, and from the banks of Feather River
about a half mile ; they numbered about fifty souls.
The Honcuts were located on the east bank of Feather River, just below
the mouth of Honcut Creek, and comprised about 150 persons. On the south
branch of the Honcut, and scattered through the Browns Valley region, in
little villages and one principal village, were a large number of Indians with
no particular tribal name.
There were several small tribes of Indians living between the Bear and
Yuba Rivers, and one large tribe who occupied the country from the foothills
to Nevada. These Indians spoke a different language from the Marysville In-
dians, and were more warlike. Their chief stole some of General Sutter's
cattle in 1841. Sutter pursued him and retook them after a fight in which no
one was killed. The scene of the bloodless conflict was on the bank of the
Yuba River, a few miles above Marysville.
A historian named Taylor, in referring to the Cush-Nas on the south
bank of the Yuba, and their fellow tribesmen, says : "The physique of these
natives did not correspond at all with that of the 'noble' warriors east of the
mountains. Strongly, though not symmetrically built, their height rarely ex-
ceeded five feet and eight inches. A low, retreating forehead ; black, deep-set
eyes ; thick, bushy eyebrows ; salient cheekbones ; a nose depressed at the
roots, and somewhat wide-spreading at the nostrils ; a large mouth ; thick,
prominent lips ; teeth large and white, but not always regular ; and rather
large ears, is a prevailing type."
It was only in winter that a dwelling was needed, and this was by no
means pretentious. The general method was to dig a hole in the ground three
or four feet in depth, with a diameter of from ten to thirty feet. The ends of
pliable willow poles were sunk into the ground around the excavation, and
the tops were brought together, the same poles serving for walls and roof.
If the poles were sufficiently long, the two ends were driven into the ground
on opposite sides of the hole, the curve of the willow forming the roof. Mud
or sod was then placed over the frame. The more pretentious residences had
bushes interwoven between the willow poles, and an outside covering of tule
grass. The smoke from the fire in the hut found an outlet through a hole
in the roof. The doorway consisted of a small hole in the side, barely large
enough for a person to crawl through.
EARLY-DAY INDIAN TROUBLES
Sutter County was not without its Indian troubles in the early days. So
unreliable became the roving bands of reds, that Major-General Thomas J.
Green, First Division, California Militia, was sent into this section to protect
the whites. These early troubles, and measures taken for their settlement,
are thus described in the Placer Times of May 20, 1850:
"Brigadier-General A. M. Winn has received a letter from Major-Gen-
eral Thomas J. Green, First Division, California Militia, forwarded by Brig-
adier-General Eastland, and enclosing one to His Excellency, Peter H. Bur-
nett, Governor of California. The letters are dated at Oro, the headquarters
at present of General Green. Serious Indian troubles are announcd on that
frontier. A volunteer company, under the command of Capt. Nicolaus All-
geier, had prepared to march against the savages, and other parties were being
formed. The Indians are reported to number several hundred and to be
headed by white men and some Chilians. An engagement is said to have taken
place on Deer Creek, a few days before, in which four whites and fifteen In-
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 235
dians were killed. General Green has very wisely determined to take the
field, both for the protection of the citizens and to prevent excesses on their
part. He recommends that the Adjutant-General should be ordered to his
headquarters, with instructions and authority to make a further call upon the
militia, and U. S. troops, should the emergencies require it.
"We are further advised that some two hundred Indians were seen near
Johnson's ranch, on Friday. A party of thirty went out from Nicolaus, and
killed four of them, one of the party being slightly wounded in the forehead.
A teamster from Nicolaus was found dead in the neighborhood, with four-
teen arrows in him. His wagon and merchandise had been burnt up and four
pair of- oxen killed. The repeated outrages in every direction will induce a
more general militia organization throughout this part of the State. We learn
that a volunteer company of young men is being now formed in Sacramento.
They will be the first to tender their aid, should future developments require
a further call upon the militia, which is anticipated in the above corre-
spondence."
General Green's Report
General Green arrived in Sacramento Tuesday, May 28, 1850, and was
to leave immediately for Washington to represent the state of Indian affairs
to the President. He made the following report to the Governor :
"Oro, May 25, 1850.
"To His Excellency, Peter H. Burnett,
"Governor and Commander in Chief, California Militia :
"Sir : After my despatch to you on the 16th instant, I moved with Cap-
tain Allgeier's and Capt. Charles Hoyt's mounted volunteers, on the 17th,
upon Bear River. On the afternoon of the same day, Lieutenant Bell of Cap-
tain Allgeier's company, with ten men, being out upon a scout, encountered
a large number of Indians, killing five and bringing in six prisoners.
"On the 18th, I moved in the direction, of Deer Creek, and scoured the
country, for a number of Indian depredations had been committed. We found
the Indian villages newly deserted, and their trails leading south, in the direc-
tion of Bear River.
"On the 19th, pursued said trails in the direction of Wolf Creek, to where
Colonel Hoyt was murdered and burned in his mill ; found the Indian villages
in this neighborhood deserted, and the white settlements abandoned ;
trails still leading south, which we followed to Bear River, and encamped
upon the same.
"On the 20th, leaving a camp guard with the horses, we crossed the river
on foot to visit a large village on the south of said river, which we found
deserted, and the trail recrossing the river. Upon our return I was informed
that a large number of Indians, between two and three hundred, had assem-
bled upon an elevated conical hill within two miles, a position evidently
taken to give battle.
"After examining their position, I ordered Captain Hoyt, with twenty
men, to take station at the foot of the hill upon the left, and with Captain
Allgeier, Lieutenant Bell and the balance of the men, in all thirty, I charged
up the most accessible side of the hill upon their right into the camp, and
drove the Indians upon Captain Hoyt's position, where a smart skirmish en-
sued. We pursued them for several miles in the hills and ravines, killing and
wounding a number, and took eight prisoners. Their Chiefs report eleven of
their men killed, besides wounded. We had none killed. Wounded, Captain
Hoyt, Lieutenant Lewis and private Russell. My Aid, Major Frederick Em-
ory, was accidentally shot through the thigh by the accidental discharge of a
rifle. All doing well.
.236 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
"The day previous, in attempting to capture one of their spies, his de-
termined resistance caused him to be shot, and in camp we found his remains
upon a funeral pyre, nearly consumed. Here we found a large amount of sup-
plies, consisting of beef, sugar, tea and other articles robbed from the wagons,
and the clothes of the murdered teamster, Matty. On the afternoon of the
same day I sent the following note, with a flag of truce to the Chiefs, by an
old woman who had been taken prisoner :
" 'Wolf Creek Camp, May 12, 1850.
" 'To the Indian Chiefs, Weima, Buckler, Poolel, and others :
" 'Your people, have been murdering ours, robbing their wagons, and
burning their houses. We have made war upon you, killed your men and
taken prisoners your women and children. We send you this plain talk by
one of your grandmothers. When you cease to rob and murder our people,
we will cease to make war upon you, and then you can come in and get your
women and children, who will be taken care of in the meantime. If
you wish peace, come down to Johnson's old ranch, on Bear River, and
report yourselves to Captain Charles Hoyt, who will protect you until your
Great Father shall speak.
" 'Thomas J. Green,
" 'Major-General, First Division, California Militia.'
"Today the Chiefs, with a number of men, met me at Kearney, and en-
tered into the following treaty. It is my opinion, as well as the opinion of oth-
ers better acquainted with these Indians, that they will observe the treaty in
good faith. It is to be hoped that no acts of aggression will be commenced up-
on them by the whites. These Indians can be made very useful to the miners
if they have even a small portion of justice extended to them. Heretofore a
few persons have monopolized much of their labor, by giving them a calico
shirt per week and the most indifferent food. This is not only wrong, but
highly disgraceful, when they would be content with the pay of one-fourth
of the wages of the white men.
"I have sent these Chiefs over on the north fork of the American River
to bring others, now hostile, to Brigadier-General Eastland, on Bear River,
who will, in the absence of other instructions from your Excellency, endeavor
to bring them to terms. I have the honor to be,
"Very respectfully,
"Your obedient servant,
"Signed : Thomas J. Green,
"Major-General, First Division, California Militia."
Copy of the Treaty
"Whereas, numerous depredations and murders have been committed
upon the persons and property of the American citizens in this vicinity by
native Indians belonging to tribes of the undersigned Chiefs ; and whereas,
it became the duty of the undersigned Thomas J. Green, Major-General of the
First Division of the California Militia, to pursue and punish said depredators
and murderers; now, therefore, in the absence of higher authority, I, Thomas
J. Green, as aforesaid, on behalf of the People of California and the govern-
ment of the United States, on one part, and the head Indian Chiefs, Weima
and Buckler, and sub-chief, Poolel, on the other part, representing fully and
completely their several tribes, do enter into the following solemn treaty of
peace and friendship, to wit :
"Article 1. — Henceforth and forever the American citizens and the Amer-
ican tribes aforementioned shall live in peace and friendship.
"Article 2. — Should any Indian belonging to either of the before-men-
tioned tribes commit any murder, robbery or other offense against the persons
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 2.37
or property of the American citizens, the offender, or offenders, shall be
promptly delivered up to the proper authorities for punishment.
"Article 3.- — Should any American citizen or foreigner commit any wrong
upon the persons or property of the before-mentioned tribes, they shall be
punished therefor as the law directs.
"Article 4. — To prevent any hostile feeling arising between the whites
and Indians, as well as to prevent the friendly Indians from being mistaken
for those unfriendly, it is hereby stipulated, that the people of the before-
mentioned tribes shall not carry arms while in the settlements of the whites.
"Article 5. — To cultivate warmer friendship and acquaintance between
the white people and the Indians, the latter are guaranteed the free use of
the gold mines, and a full value of their labor in working the same, without
charge or hindrance ; and any contract made between the Indians and whites,
before competent witnesses, shall be recoverable before any court of compe-
tent jurisdiction.
"Article 6. — The Indian prisoners shall be delivered up with the signing
of this treaty.
"Article 7. — The government of the United States shall have six months
from this date to confirm, amend, or annul the treaty ; and should said gov-
ernment of the United States confirm the same, it is hereby stipulated that
each of the before-mentioned tribes shall receive a semiannual annuity
of $1000, to be paid to them respectively for the term of ten years from
the date hereof.
"In witness whereof, the undersigned parties before-mentioned have
signed, sealed and delivered this treaty, each to the other, in the presence of
Captain Nicolaus Allgeier, Captain Charles H. Hoyt, Colonel James
Bell, J. S. Christy, Edwin P. Linck, J. B. Fairchild, Joseph Foster,
subscribing witnesses.
"May 25, 1850. "Thos. J. Green, Maj.-General.
"Weima, his X mark.
"Buckler, his X mark.
"Poolel, his X mark."
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
CHAPTER IV
CRIMES AND CRIMINALS
Proverbially peaceful and law-abiding, Sutter County has been the scene
in all the years of but few of the exciting incidents that have characterized
the history of surrounding counties, especially in the earlier period. A few
murders have been committed in its history, the details of which it is not
necessary to recite. Only two persons suffered the extreme penalty of the
law at the hands of the public executioner in the days when it was the custom
to hang in the county jail yard. An Italian was hanged in October, 1857, by
Sheriff S. E. Kennard ; and John Wright was hanged in March, 1873, by
Sheriff Samuel McClure.
Early-Day Appeals to Mob Law
During the unorganized period of the early days, appeal was made to mob
law on a few occasions by otherwise law-abiding citizens. An account of these
lynchings follows here.
'And now comes the mob, being impatient of delay (the jury not having
as yet agreed upon their verdict), being led by one E. W. High, and seized
and forcibly took from the custody of the Sheriff the said prisoner, Washing-
ton Rideout, and having dragged him out of the Court House, escorted him
to the first convenient tree, and hanged him by the neck until he was dead."
The above is from the record of the Court of Sessions of June 12, 1852,
upon which day that body met at Nicolaus to try Washington Rideout, a
negro. In May, 1852, Rideout stopped .at the Bellevue House, kept by New-
bald & Hufius, five miles south of Nicolaus. Discovering Hufius to be alone,
the negro grew abusive because Hufius did not have the kind of liquor he de-
manded. Hufius ordered him to leave the place, whereupon the negro drew
his revolver and shot him to death. The murderer was quickly captured and
conveyed to Nicolaus, then the county seat, where a mob took possession and
were about to hang Rideout, when they were persuaded by cooler heads to
permit the law to take its course. The murderer was placed aboard a govern-
ment vessel lying in the river and confined there pending trial. A grand
jury was summoned, an indictment returned, and the case proceeded to
trial within a few days of the commission of the act. The records of the
court in lull follow :
"Saturday, June 12, 1851, 2 p. m.
"The Grand Jury returns into Court and presents the following:
State of California "1
vs. >■ Indictment for Murder.
Washington RideoutJ
"Whereupon, the defendant was brought into Court, and for trying the
same, came the following jury, to wit: Ira Bradshaw, C. S. Tessue, Joseph
P. Dillon, J. Lee, E. W. Riker, Nathaniel Eaton, John Holloway, Thomas
Morrison, J. Gibson, A. L- Chandler, H. Chandler, and James Riker, and were
sworn and empanelled. The defendant was then arraigned, and having an-
swered to his name, as set forth in the indictment, pleads that he is 'not
guilty' of the charge alleged therein. W. B. Johnson, G. B. Upham, S. B.
Smith, and Dr. Golder were called and sworn on the part of the State, and
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 239
Hugh McDuffy' was sworn on the part of the defendant. The jury, after
having heard the evidence and the arguments of the counsel, retired to con-
sider of their verdict.
"And now comes the mob, being impatient of delay (the jury not having
as yet agreed upon their verdict), being led by one E. W. High, and seized
and forcibly took from the custody of the Sheriff the said prisoner, Washing-
ton Rideout, and having dragged him out of the Court House, escorted him
to the first convenient tree, and hanged him by the neck until he was dead."
It had been the watchword of the mob, "Hang him while the sun shines,"
and the jury had been out so long that the sun began to decline in the west.
They went to the court room, then in the American Hotel, and High stepped
up to the prisoner as he was seated between two deputies, and told him that
his time had come. No resistance was made, and High took him by the collar
and led him from the room. Rideout was taken to a large tree in front of Jacob
Vahle's residence, a rope was thrown over a limb, one end fastened around
the prisoner's neck, and the other end seized by about fifty men, who, as the
last rays of the setting sun shed their light upon the scene, ran the murderer
up and fastened him there. The whole court, including the jury, adjourned to
witness the execution. Rideout had a Spanish wife. She was clinging to his
neck when through her arms the body of her husband was jerked aloft. Thus
did they hang him "while the sun was shining."
Only a few days after the murder of Hufius. and before the execution of
Rideout, a cruel murder was committed by John Jackson, a Norwegian, the
victim being Mrs. Martin Bader, who lived with her husband on the west side
of Feather River, in Sutter Township. This crime, and the hanging of Jack-
son by a mob, have already been described in detail in a chapter on Crimes
and Criminals, which will be found in the section of this volume devoted to
the History of Yuba County.
These exhibitions of mob law, coming so closely together, were very
severely commented upon by the newspapers at the time ; but although it
would have been better to have the law take its course, yet there is no doubt
that the two wretches richly deserved their fate.
An early historian, in explaining the necessity for occasional activities
by the mob in an effort to discourage crime while it was gaining foothold in
the early days, had this to say :
"The natural tendency of society, when left uncurbed by legal regula-
tions, is towards lawlessness. So it was in the early days of California. The
population in the year 1848 and the greater part of 1849 was composed of a
fine set of men, comprised of the honest and intelligent element of the Eastern
cities and States. But the next tide that flowed in threw upon our shores the
refuse material from the larger cities on the Atlantic side of the continent,
and a horde of discharged convicts from the Australian colonies. The change
in society was apparent immediately ; murder, robberies, highway robberies
and crimes of every description became every-day occurrences. Before this,
the miner placed no protection over his earnings, and could walk through
the dark streets, or over the lonely plains and hills, feeling perfectly safe
in his solitude ; now his gold dust must be hidden or placed in some secure
retreat, and his pilgrimage must be made in the light of day, or in the
company of others. Eegal proceedings were carried on under the old Mexican
laws, and with the insufficient force of officers it was difficult to apprehend
and convict a man of crime. The miners, realizing that fact, and knowing
the consequences of leniency toward the criminal class, took the law into
their own hands."
240 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
Joaquin Murietta and Tom Bell
The two most noted highwaymen that infested this region were Joaquin
Murietta and Tom Bell. We have already referred to the depredations and
final disposal of Bell in a chapter similar to this in the section devoted to
Yuba County's history.
Joaquin Murietta, who for a long time was the terror of travelers, and
lonely settlers, never operated to any extent in this vicinity. He had a sister
living in Marysville, whom he frequently visited. He was there for a con-
siderable time, in 1850 and 1851, and was known as" a notorious character.
After the killing of Joaquin, considerable doubt existed as to the identity of
the dead robber. His head was amputated and, with the hand of "Three-
fingered Jack," was exhibited throughout the State. While in Marysville,
Joaquin's sister visited the exhibition and, after gazing upon the head,
remarked in Spanish to a gentleman, within the hearing of Judge O. P. Stid-
ger, "That's not my brother." AVhen asked who it was, she smilingly replied,
"It is Joaquin Gonzales." This would seem to lend some credence to the
rumor that the real Joaquin Murietta had escaped.
William Wells
On the night of July 26, 1860, three men escorting an escaped murderer
from Nicolaus to Sacramento were killed in cold blood by their prisoner in
an unusual manner. One of the victims was William C. Stoddard, farmer of
the Nicolaus section and father of W. S. Stoddard, now employed in a Red
Bluff bank. The other two were officers, one a friend of Stoddard.
Stoddard had started on horseback from his farm near Nicolaus for Sac-
ramento, on the morning of July 26, 1860. Having to proceed by way of Nico-
laus in order to cross the river, he met Tim Wharton, deputy sheriff of Sutter
County, and his personal friend.
Here is where the story of William Wells,. the desperado, comes in. AVells
had murdered a man in Sacramento, and was apprehended in Virginia City,
Nev., and brought in the stage as far as Nicolaus, where rumor said a mob
had gathered outside Sacramento to lynch him. In order to thwart the plan,
William Armstrong, who had Wells in custody, hired a spring wagon at Nico-
laus, with which he and Wharton were to take the murderer into Sacramento
under cover. Stoddard, riding into Nicolaus about the time they were to start
on the trip, was invited by Wharton to join the party. When the party arrived
at the American River crossing, late in the night, all three were murdered by
Wells, who was never apprehended.
As to how AVells did the deed, different theories were advanced. The pre-
vailing one was that Armstrong, being worn out by travel, fell asleep while
in the back portion of the wagon guarding Wells, and that in some manner
AVells secured his pistol and shot all three in a flash. Another theory was that
AVells was given help by outsiders.
Stoddard had practiced law as a young man at Yreka, Siskiyou County.
He later served as district attorney in that county and also in Sutter County.
Still later he returned to Ogle County, 111., where he was made sheriff. At the
expiration of his term in that office he returned to his ranch five miles below
Nicolaus, crossing the plains as captain of a wagon train.
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 241
CHAPTER V
THE ERA OF AGRICULTURE
Seemingly destined at the present writing to become one great orchard
and vineyard, Sutter County was at one time, not so long ago, purely an agri-
cultural section, with horticulture and viticulture only in embryonic stage.
Its present development as a fruit and grape district is almost unbelievable,
so rapid is the stride. The story of the early tilling of the soil, when told, cov-
ers all the earlier activities in that line in Yuba and Sutter Counties.
The first crops raised in this locality were a small field of wheat put in
.by Cordua in 1845, between Marysville and Yuba City, and one by Sicard on
his ranch on the south bank of Bear River. Gutierrez, Johnson, Kyser and
Smith were simply herding cattle on the plains, as was also Roether. This
was the state of agriculture in 1846. Sicard had a field of wheat of about fif-
teen acres, which yielded about sixty bushels to the acre on the average.
Grain was raised by Nicolaus Allgeier near Nicolaus, but none was raised
this year at Hock Farm.
Primitive Methods of Farming
The method of cultivation at that time was exceedingly primitive. No
agricultural implements having been brought by the foreign emigrants or by
the American settlers, they were obliged to use the kind of tools and resort
to the same practices that obtained among the native Calif ornians. The
enterprising farmer who desired to raise a field of wheat had first to manu-
facture a plow. He went into the forest and examined the trees carefully ;
and when one was found that had the proper-shaped limbs, it was cut down,
its branches hewn off, and the remaining limbs trimmed to the proper length
and size. A triangular piece of iron about eight inches broad at the base was
then fastened to the lower branch, with the apex of the triangle downward.
The other branch was used as a pole for the animal, and the main stem served
as a handle. To this were hitched two oxen, attached to the plow by ropes
fastened around their horns, no yoke being used. An Indian boy walked
ahead of the oxen, which were trained to follow him ; and a man came behind
to guide the plow. The furrow cut was eight inches wide and quite shal-
low ; the dirt was not turned over, but fell back into its old place when the
plow passed, being merely loosened by the operation. After the field had been
prepared in this manner, the grain was scattered by hand and a brush was
drawn over the field to harrow it and cover the seed.
When the grain was ripe, then the services of the Indians were called into
requisition to assist in the harvest. They were provided with sickles and
butcher-knives, with which they cut the yellow stalks. A large force of these
assistants was employed. In 1847 Captain Sutter had over 250 in his large
field near Sacramento, diligently employing the sickle and butcher-knife.
The grain was then bound and carried to the place where the threshing
was done. It was there laid in a ring, and horses and cattle were driven over
it to shell the wheat from the head. The straw was next removed ; and then
the grain was thrown up into the air, that the wind might carry away the chaff
and leave the grain free. Home-made wooden forks and shovels were used for
handling the straw and grain.
242 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
The grain, besides the little needed for home consumption, was sold to
John A. Sutter, who had a contract to supply the Russian colony in Alaska.
To convey this supply, the Russians sent a vessel from Sitka to Sacramento,
where it received Sutter's large crop. Launches were sent up the river as far
as Nicolaus, to which point the grain raised in this vicinity was carried for
shipping. Sutter supplied the Russians with wheat for several years.
Introduction of Modern Methods
The primitive methods at first employed were gradually superseded by
the implements brought by the American pioneers, who came here to settle
and so came prepared. The first innovation made was some American plows,
brought in 1846 by Claude Chana and others in his party. The last thing to
change was the manner of threshing, the first machine for that purpose mak-
ing its appearance in the early fifties, as related in a subsequent paragraph.
In 1847, Rouelle, who settled near Sutter's orchard, opposite Marysville
on the south bank of the Yuba River, raised some vegetables — among other
things some huge watermelons. Most of the settlers raised crops of wheat
this year. The plowing for the crops of 1847 was done chiefly with American
plows that the emigrants of 1846 had brought. These emigrants had also
brought grain cradles, and a large portion of the wheat was cut with these.
Sutter had several white men reaping with cradles in his large field at the
same time that the 250 Indians were at work with sickles and butcher-knives.
Johnson and Sicard used sickles. As for several years previously, the Rus-
sians came for the wheat this year also, but it was the last they could get.
We have referred to the introduction of the plow and cradle. The first
threshing machine used was one of home manufacture, and was employed to
thresh grain raised by Allgeier and Higgins, in the Nicolaus section, in 1851.
The maker was Major Frothingham, a mechanic, who was living with Hig-
gins. Frothingham worked for a long time on a perpetual-motion machine
that was to be run by weights, but quite naturally met with no success.. Mow-
ers and reapers were introduced in 1854, and headers in 1856. Threshers,
reapers and mowers were soon used by all the farmers, giving employment
in season to many men who made their headquarters in Marysville and Yuba
City. Not a few of these men later became owners of tracts in either Yuba
or Sutter County. The results of their investments are now apparent, being
enjoyed by either themselves or their children.
Floyd, Ingraham, and McMurtry made an iron harrow in 1852, from
about fifty picks abandoned at French Crossing by a party of Frenchmen.
It was probably the first implement of the kind in this part of the country.
Other Crops and Further Development
During the winter of 1847-1848, Nye put in his first crop. He raised peas,
barley, wheat, watermelons, muskmelons, corn and lentils. The barley was
prepared and used for coffee. The wheat was ground into flour by means of
small handmills. Most of the settlers had put in crops of grain in 1848 ; but
crops, stock, orchards, etc., were all abandoned, and every one went to the
mines. Sicard was the only man in this locality near Bear River who har-
vested his wheat.
In 1849 more attention was given to agriculture, Charles Covillaud har-
vesting 160 acres east of Marysville ; while Ramirez, on the Quintay, put in
100 acres, and Sampson about the same. In 1850 Claude Chana experimented
with a small crop of Russian barley.
After the rush and excitement of 1849 and 1850, caused by the gold dis-
covery, agriculture took a new start. In the latter year a few people had set-
tled on the bottom lands, with the intention of making- this their future home.
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 243
At that time, a fine growth of oak and sycamore timber skirted the river
banks, and in some places extended back upon the plains. The first
industry engaged in was the cutting of wood, great quantities of which were
used by the steamers and by the residents of the city. Another was the cut-
ting of hay, which grew wild on the bottom land in great luxuriance. Hay was
in great demand in the mines and cities ; and the immense number of pack
and stage animals required to transact business, and transport goods and
passengers, made the price of hay reach a high figure. Little had been cut or
used in 1849 ; but the following year a great many people located hay claims
on which they remained long enough to gather the abundant crop, and then
abandoned them until the next season. These, with a few settlers who made
permanent locations, cut thousands of tons, the demand being even then too
great to be fully supplied. The wild grass was a species of timothy and clover
that grew without any cutivation, and made a most excellent quality of hay.
Hundreds of cords of wood were cut and piled on the river banks for future
use, the dry, dead timber being used while the other was seasoning. Even
as late as 1858, the cutting of wood and wild hay was the leading industry
among the ranchers along the river.
The first broom corn was raised in Sutter County in 1855 by one Mr.
Ryan on his farm north of Yuba City, now Lomo. The next year several
others planted it, and in a few years it had become one of the leading crops on
the bottom lands of the county.
At one time particular attention was paid to sugar cane and castor beans ;
but these were soon abandoned for products that made better returns.
The earliest orchards in Sutter County, so far as is known, were those
planted by Claude Chana and General Sutter at Hock Farm. In 1880 the
orchard of John Briggs near Yuba City was well advanced and was con-
sidered one of the largest orchards in the State. Briggs' Early May peaches
gained a State-wide reputation for lusciousness. At the same time Yuba
County had several orchards bearing peaches in the bottom lands east of
Marysville. These were owned by Michael McAdams, Grass Brothers,
Tremblay Brothers and others, all of whom engaged in grape-growing and
wine-making later. Further mention of the early orchards of Sutter County
is made in the chapter on Horticulture and Viticulture.
Importation and Exportation of Wheat
Until the fact was demonstrated that wheat could be raised in sufficient
quantities and of satisfactory quality, flour was brought from Chile, Aus-
tralia, and the celebrated Gallego and Haxhall mills of Virginia. Even after
mills were built, wheat was imported, both because a sufficient quantity was
not raised at home, and because that raised was not believed to be of good
quality. By about 1856, however, enough wheat was produced to supply the
demand, and the mills ceased to import wheat, and the merchants, flour.
Having accomplished this, the farmers and grain dealers could see noth-
ing further ahead, and agricultural progress was for a time at a standstill.
The idea of exporting did not enter their minds, for they thought the attempt
would be futile. The wheat, they reasoned, would not stand the journey East
or to Liverpool, twice through the tropics and around Cape/ Horn. The ex-
tremes of heat and cold would cause "sweating" and destruction. Conse-
quently no attempt was made to export until about 1861, when astute dealers
sent a cargo to Liverpool, taking the chances of losing, but determined to try
the experiment. The cargo arrived safely and in excellent condition ; a sec-
ond was sent, and that also arrived in the best of order. This established the
fact that wheat could be shipped from California ; and as a result an immedi-
ate impetus was given to grain-exportation, and also to its production.
244 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
The Farmers' Cooperative Union of Sutter County
As early as 1869, the farmers throughout the State began to complain of
the hardships wrought by the rings and speculators who dealt in agricultural
products. Combinations of speculators had been formed that kept down the
price of grain at home, so that the farmer, notwithstanding a good market
abroad, could obtain but little for his produce. Combinations also kept trans-
portation rates at a high figure, and rings kept the price of bags far above
their legitimate value. After a few years of complaining, the farmers set
themselves to work to rectify their grievances. In 1872 a great many "Farm-
ers' Clubs" were formed, where the farmers meti together to discuss the situ-
ation and ascertain what was best to be done. One of these clubs was formed
in Yuba City. After much futile discussion, the members began to realize
the need of some legal organization, and a committee was appointed to inves-
tigate the matter. The club decided to incorporate, and didi so on March 29,
1873. The name given the organization was "The Farmers' Cooperative Union
of Sutter County." The capital stock was fixed at $50,000, divided into 1000
shares of $50 each. The life of the concern was placed at fifty years, and
Yuba City was made the principal place of business. The first board of
directors comprised the following: S. E. Wilson, president; B. F, Walton,
secretary ; George Ohleyer, treasurer ; A. L. Chandler, Francis Hamlin,
George E. Brittan, and Henry Elmer. In 1873 the union purchased 128,000
grain bags at wholesale rates, on credit, and sold them to stockholders at cost
price ; and thus the farmers began at once to derive an actual benefit from the
union. In 1874 a large brick warehouse was built in Yuba City. It had a stor-
age capacity of 5000 tons, the building at the start being 80 by 200 feet, with
a shed its whole length 27 feet wide. The building was not completed until
September, and but 2200 tons were stored that year, only enough to pay ex-
penses. I,n 1875 there were 5300 tons stored, and in 1876, 5100 tons. In
1877 there was a bumper crop of grain, and the warehouse was full by the
4th of July. Evidently more storage room was required. The directors had
previously purchased four acres of land on an Indian mound on the river bank
for $6000; and they now proceeded to erect a frame warehouse, 60 by 108 feet,
with a shed 21 by 108 feet; capacity, "2500 tons. Grain was received there on
August 1, and the building was soon full.
On March 31, 1879, a cash dividend of $10 per share was declared. The
report of the directors showed a plant worth $30,000 belonging to the union.
George Ohleyer was the business manager in the years when he and his as-
sociates reaped the benefits. In 1874 there was a change in the directorship,
George W. Carpenter taking the place of George E. Brittan, who resigned.
George Ohleyer became secretary in 1876, and George W. Carpenter, treas-
urer. B. F. Walton was elected treasurer in 1878. By the quantity of its
freight, the union materially assisted in maintaining the line of steamers
owned by the Marysville Steamboat Company, and thus indirectly was a
benefit to all classes of shippers, by keeping the rates of transportation low.
AVhen the river channel became clogged with debris and prevented the
river steamers from reaching the two warehouses built on the bank of the
stream, the organization erected on the line of the railroad near the Yuba
City Flour Mill a large corrugated-iron warehouse, which at once was in
demand. This building was sold about 1912 to the Northern Electric Rail-
road Company, now the Sacramento Northern Railroad Company. It is now
owned by the Prune and Apricot Growers' Association.
Farmers' Union Bank
The Farmers' Union Bank, now the First National Bank of Yuba City
and Savings Bank of Sutter County, was the financial branch of the Farmers'
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 245
Cooperative Union during all the years it was in existence. Charles R. Boyd,
now president of this bank, was first connected with the association as a
weigher in the warehouses. He has now been with the concern for over forty-
two years. In 1908 he succeeded the late George W. Carpenter as its head.
The bank now occupies its own building on Bridge Street. It was
formerly located in the quarters now occupied by the Van Arsdale Mer-
cantile Company, next door.
Producers' Bank of Yuba City
In March, 1924, there was organized by interests in Yuba and Sutter
Counties closely allied with the Bank of Italy the Producers' Bank of Yuba
City. The first meeting of stockholders was held Saturday, March 15, for
the purpose of electing officers and discussing business matters. Alvin Weis,
Marysville attorney, was chosen president. Other officers elected were:
Trusten P. Coats, Jr., secretary and cashier ; Dunning Rideout, Marysville
manager of the Bank of Italy, first vice-president ; and C. B. Harter, second
vice-president. A week later an offer by Schneider Brothers of Marysville
of a free site was accepted by the directors ; and decision was made next day
to erect a building, at a cost of at least $10,000, on the east side of Plumas
Street, near the intersection of Scott Street, in Yuba City.
The following were the stockholders of the new bank at its establish-
ment: A. W. Graves, F. W. Cooper, Alvin Weis, C. B. Harter, Albert
Andross, Kenyon T. Gregg, George F. Otis, Dunning Rideout, George Wal-
ton, Gerald F. Raub, N. J. Weber, Jr., Howard H. Harter, A. W. Gluckman,
H. H. Wolfskill, Charles Beaver, Glen Onstott, E. E. Bryan, C. J. Harter,
Orlin C. Harter, L. J. Harter, Harry E. Meyers, P. A. Reische, Josephine
Steiner, J. H. Backus, V. H. Triplett, Frank Brandstatt, C. H. Stohlman,
Samuel H. Hogeboom, Wallace Williams, Rollin Williams, Cyrus Graffis,
R. G. Smith, Fred H. Heiken, Carayl Kenyon, Eva K. Gregg, Thomas Brad)',
Howard F. Brady, E. H. Meyer, John Pohle, L. C. Stohlman, Lillie Stohlman,
Clara Stohlman, S. E. Reische, John Joaquin, Hazel Hoke, Thomas T. Joaquin,
Dalton Z. Look, C. E. Sullivan, Frank R. Close, E. W. Hixson, J. R. Howlett,
William H. Street, George N. Schneider, Seymour N. Schneider, Stockholders'
Auxiliary Corporation.
Nicolaus Farmers' Grain Warehouse
In the southern part of the county farmers also united to protect their
interests. The Nicolaus Farmers' Grain Warehouse was formed in 1873, with
a paid-up capital of $4900, in shares of $100. A frame warehouse with a
capacity of 2500 tons was built the same year. It was erected on the river
bank at Nicolaus in the shape of a trapezoid. The shipment of grain the
first year was 4000 tons. The officers, from its organization, were : A. L.
Chandler, president ; J. D. Barbee, secretary ; and John Peters, treasurer.
Early-Day Growers of Grain
Among those who pioneered in the days when grain was the chief prod-
uct of Sutter County's vast acreage, and whose descendants are now reap-
ing the benefits of the splendid commonwealth they created in this wonderful
section, are : W. W. Ashford, A. F. Abbott, Richard Barnett, Thomas
Brophy, W. Y. Blevin, I. N. Brock, Stephen Bokman, W. H. Boulware, Cyrus
Briggs, Henry Best, M. C. Barney, J. S. Boyd, Thomas Boyd, Robert
Boyd, Francis Berk, J. H. Brockman, C. P. Berry, R. C. Berry, John Burns,
George E. Brittan, Boyd & Wilcoxon, M. T. Buchanan, Z. Best, M. Boul-
ware, Henry Berg and brothers, Boyd & Cockerill, P. L. Bunce, C. G.
Bockius, J. W. Carpenter, S. R. Chandler, Thomas Christopherson, Y. S.
Clyma, Otis Clark, Patrick Corcoran, J. M. Cope, Frank Clyma, W. A.
246 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
Coats, John Carroll, J. C. Donohoe, Fred Dahling, Eli Davis, J. F. C. DeAYitt,
William G. DeWitt, M. C. Ellis, J. H. Erich, S. R. Fortna, D. C. Fortna, John
Fortna, E. P. Farmer, B. F. Frisbie, Charles A. Glidden, Maragaret Giblin,
J. Guidery, Timothy Guidery, George W. Gray, B. C. Gray, Joseph Girdner,
Moore Getty, Evan Griffith, Konrad Gottwals, John Gelzhauser, Jesse O.
Goodwin, John Haugh, Daniel Hogan, Barney Hippert, G. Heidoting, B. F.
Henderson, E. J. Howard, C. D. Herrick, Francis Hamlin, F. Hoke, T. B.
Hull, Suel Harris, Henry Johnson, Robert Keck, Michael Kerns, T. D. Kirk,
Barney Krehe, Peter Kerrigan, Henry Krehe, Caspar Euckehe, A. H. Lamme,
Fred Lauber, AY. P. Lipp, William McMurtry, Charles Myers, Adam Michel,
T. S. Metteer, C. H. Metteer, William Manaugh, James Murray, Mrs. E. E.
Moore, A. C. and G. A. Morehead, N. D. Monger, J. Monger, William Moore,
Marcuse Brothers, R. McRae, J. T. McMurtry, John McNamara, Peter
McAuslan, T. F. McVey, Phil McCune, R. W. McLaughlin, John McAlpine,
W. H. McPherrin, David McAuslan, Samuel McClure, Martha McPhetridge,
J. C. Newkom, A. S. Noyes, Matthew Nail, Frank Nau, P. M. Neisen, Eric
Nelson, Peter Nelson, J. Y. Newman, D. A. Ostrom, D. O'Banion, William
O'Banion. George Ohleyer, Joseph O'Connor, Michael O'Connor, J. A.
Onstott, J. P. Onstott Dennis O'Neil, Patrick O'Connor, Eli Porter, J. C.
Porter, William Peters, Phil Prather, David Powell. Richard Powell, A. J.
Percy, G. A. Putnam, E. Proper, Peter Peters, Claus Peters, Sumner Paine,
Packard & Woodruff, William Powell. J. A, Peters, Parks & Brother, W. H.
Perdue, Parks & AVilcoxon, J. Rackerby, William Rackerby, I. N. Ramsdell,
Hanora Ryan, Elizabeth Ramey, G. F. Starr, H. Stohlman, J. & M. Schwall,
C. Stolp, H. Sankey, Toseph Schwall, F. Sankey, Paul Schillig, James Strip-
lin, B. R. Spillman, W. T. Spillman, W. E. Striplin, F. M. Striplin, J. W.
Snowball, Mrs. Annie Stewart, Mrs. C. E. Sanborn, William Sanders, S. J.
Stabler, G. M. Saye, Jackson Simpson, H. H. Scheussler, Adam Scheussler,
Fred Sulzberger, fohn Spangler, John Soderlund, G. R. Summy, John Schlag,
B. F. Stoker, R: AY. Tharp, William Trevathan, Fred Tarke, E. F. Thorn-
brough, Eli Teegarden, John Ury, P. V. Veeder, Fred Vahle. A. Van Arsdale,
M. P. E. Vivian, Jacob Vahle. J.X. Wilbur, John Wilkie, A. H. Wilbur, Jacob
Weis, Mary Weber, B. F. Walton, George Walton, W. J. Walton, R. H.
Walton, H. A. Walton, I. A. Winship, Walter Woodworih, E. K Wilson,
E. Wilder, Conrad Weigers, Valentine Witt, J. A. Wilkinson, T- E. Whitlock,
I. Whyler, William Whyler, Edward Whyler, O. A. Wilbur, David Wilkie,
William Wadsworth, M. C. Woods, J. B. Wadsworth, S. E. Wilson, C. E.
Wilcoxon, J. W. Woods, AY. AY. Wilbur, Justus A. AA r ilkinson, Jack AVilcoxon,
Steve AA^eigers, Bethel Way, Conrad Walthers. AY J. Yates, Solomon Zeigler,
John Zimmerman, and George Zins.
Rice a New Crop in Sutter County
No other single crop and related industry have ever developed so rapidly,
and attained to such tremendous proportions in only a few years, as have
the rice crop and rice industry in California. It was early found that certain
lands, known as "goose lands," and lying in different portions of Sutter
County, were adapted to rice. One of the first crops of rice raised yielded
to the combined owners over $1,000,000. In that year rice brought from
six and one-half to eight cents per pound.
Beans and the Full Dinner Pail
As many as 30,000 acres of Sutter County land have been planted to
beans in a single year. This means row upon row, and land following land,
almost as far as the eye can reach. Small white, large white, pink and bayo
are the four varieties most generally grown, although the black-eye is in
some localities grown to a considerable extent.
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 247
CHAPTER VI
HORTICULTURE AND VITICULTURE
Marvelous indeed is the transformation that has come to Sutter County
since the days described in the previous chapter. From a great and vast
acreage of grain and hay, with here and there a home, to a panorama of
orchards and vineyards, each a home-place added to the thickly dotted land-
scape, is a change scarce dreamed of by the men and women who blazed
the way to the present stage in the county's agricultural development.
Sutter County of today is the result of a combination nowhere equalled —
a combination of soil and water in alliance with a climate that does more
than any other on the face of old Mother Earth, to make plant life thrive
and do its best. The fruitful results of this three-fold union of earth's great-
est riches are everywhere in evidence in Sutter County.
For countless centuries, what is now Sutter County, like the Valley of
the Nile, was annually flooded with the waters that flowed down the Sacra-
mento and Feather Rivers from the Coast Range and Sierra Nevada Moun-
tains that border, on each side, the great interior valley of California. By
far the greater portion of the county lies between the Sacramento and Feather
Rivers, while the remaining portion stretches along the eastern side of the
Sacramento and south of the Bear. Year after year the mountain silt was
washed down by these streams and spread out like a blanket over what
is now Sutter County. This silt-like loam, thus finally brought to the
level of the adjacent lands, is deeper than the roots of trees or vines ever go,
and the three rivers furnish ample liquid nourishment for the successful
carrying on of every kind of agricultural enterprise.
BEGINNINGS OF THE FRUIT INDUSTRY
Away back, somewhere about 1850. the first orchard in Northern Cali-
fornia was planted at Hock Farm on the Feather River, about nine miles
south of Yuba City, by Gen. John A. Sutter, one of the West's most con-
spicuous pioneers. This first orchard soon became famous, and marked the
simple beginning of an industry that is still a baby in arms in comparison
with the possibilities of its ultimate development. Sutter County is surely
destined to become, at no distant day, one great orchard and vineyard.
County Horticultural Commissioner H. P. Stabler, in 1922, on the occa-
sion of the first annual Peach Day Celebration, thus wrote of Sutter County's
claim to the title of "Home of the Cling Peach" :
"Gen. John A. Sutter, soon after the discovery of gold, left Sut-
ter's Fort at Sacramento and built a home on Hock Farm on the Feather
River, nine miles south of Yuba City. Here he planted a peach orchard, the
first peach orchard in Sutter County. In 1860 John Briggs, P. L. Bunce,
Dr. A. L. Chandler, and Dr. Eli Teegarden planted peach orchards in Sutter
County. A. F. Abbott and Joseph Phillips planted fifty-five acres of cling
peaches in 1882, about nine miles south of Yuba City. This orchard was
extended in a few years to 425 acres, and in this orchard the famous Phillips
cling, a chance seedling, was found in 1888.
"B. F. Walton, now deceased, one of Sutter County's most progressive
citizens, organized a cooperative association in 1883 and built a fruit-
248 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
canning factory in Yuba City. The building of this plant, the Sutter Can-
ning & Packing Company, stimulated the planting of cling peaches, so that
in each year since, the production has grown by leaps and bounds.
"Joseph Phillips imported some trees of a cling peach from Augusta,
Georgia, about 1885. This was known as the Tuskenia, the name being grad-
ually changed to Tuscan. This cling, now grown in cling-peach districts
all over the State, was first grown in California in Sutter County. The
Walton, the Johnson and the Hauss clings, popular midsummer varieties,
ripening after the Tuscan and before the Phillips, originated in the orchards
of P. A. Walton, J. Sander Jphnson, and Ferdinand Hauss."
Abbott and Phillips
To A. F. Abbott and Joseph Phillips, both now deceased, those who
have kept in close touch with the history of Sutter County assign the credit
for the great fruit industry of Sutter County. Abbott is often referred to
as the real father of the industry. The widow, children and grandchildren
of Abbott are now residents of Marysville. Phillips never married.
Abbott was a resident of Sutter County in pioneer days, and in his
youth was an employee of Gen. John A. Sutter at Hock Farm, where he
first saw the possibility of fruit-culture.
It was in 1882 that Abbott associated himself with Joseph Phillips,
who had grown fruit on Feather River below Marysville. They trans-
formed Abbott's extensive grain ranch on Feather River, nine miles below
Yuba City, into one of the finest orchards in California. This proved a
very fortunate combination, as each member of the partnership was un-
equalled in his way. Abbott was a very successful fruit-grower, and owned
500 acres of land unusually suited to the business of fruit-raising. He was
active, intelligent, and one of the best business men in the county.
On the other hand, Joseph Phillips, from' his youth, had been engaged
in the nursery and fruit business, and at the time of planting the orchard
was considered the leading authority in California on horticultural matters.
He was a keen observer; a successful experimenter, trying out new varieties
to test their adaptability to California conditions ; a hybridizer, crossing
different fruits to produce new varieties ; and a close student of all matters
pertaining to horticulture.
Phillips imported from P. J. Berckmans, a nurseryman of Augusta,
Ga., a cling peach called by Berckmans the Tuskenia. Phillips was the
tirst to grow this peach in California. It is known now as the Tuscan, and
is one of the leading canning peaches of the State. Several of the most
valuable cultivated fruits were brought to the State by Phillips.
In the year 1882 Abbott and Phillips planted fifty-five acres ; and they
rapidly added to their orchard until they had 425 acres. This move was
watched by the farmers, and the success of this enterprise stimulated land-
owners all over the Sacramento Valley to plant orchards. In 1883 the
farmers and business men of the county were so favorably impressed with
the possibilities of fruit-growing that the Sutter Canning & Packing Com-
pany was organized and a canning factory built in Yuba City the same year.
The first fruit canned in Sutter County was grown and gathered in the Abbott
& Phillips orchard.
Birth of the Phillips Cling Peach
Phillips was always on the alert for new and desirable varieties. In
1888, he discovered in the orchard a chance seedling peach with so many
good qualities that he budded a few trees. From that beginning, growers
and nurserymen secured the now famous Phillips cling peach, which is now
grown in every cling-peach district of California.
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 249
The remains of Phillips now lie in an unmarked grave in the Marys-
ville cemetery, a grave supplied by the generosity of a few friends who
admired him during his lifetime and mourned his death. It has been sug-
gested in recent years — and the movement promises to take form — that
those who profited through the cling peach (and they are numerous), and
who appreciate the good that Phillips wrought for the fruit industry of this
section, contribute to a fund for the erection of a shaft to mark the grave of
their benefactor.
The full name of the originator of the Phillips cling peach was Joseph
Duke Phillips.
Other Pioneer Fruit Growers
In another chapter we have listed the men w r ho pioneered in the grain
era of Sutter County. Those also who paved the way to the great fruit era
in which the county is now prospering should not be forgotten. Sharing
early honors with A. F. Abbott, Joe Phillips, and Gen. John A. Sutter, who
no doubt brought the first olive trees, fig trees, and vines to his place at
Hock Farm, presumably from the California Missions, are the late P. L.
Bunce and John Briggs, who had orchards south of Yuba City early in the
sixties. The Bunce properties are still known as such, while the Briggs
orchard is now known as the Dr. Jackson place. Besides making a success
of deciduous fruits, P. L. Bunce pioneered in citrus fruits also, though not
on a large scale.
It was about the year 1867 that the Briggs orchard of 100 acres, then
considered a large tract for fruits, became famous all over California, both for
the quality of the fruit produced and for the many varieties cultivated.
Briggs had pears, peaches, cherries, apricots, figs, prunes, nectarines, apples,
and nuts on the place. It was from this orchard that the first carload of
California fruit to be shipped to the East was picked in 1876. The buyer
was Edwin T. Earl, who later organized on this coast the well-known Earl
Fruit Company. Notable in the old Briggs orchard at the present time are the
large and beautiful pecan trees which Briggs planted fifty-five years ago.
These trees still are in bearing, although no one seems to benefit by their
present efforts. They were the first pecans planted in California.
Dr. S. R. Chandler also ranks as an early-day grower. As early as
1857, he had a small orchard planted to peaches, pears, and some other fruits.
S. J. Stabler, father of the present horticultural commissioner, and B. G.
Stabler, an uncle of H. P. Stabler, each put out orchards in 1885. They had
100 acres each, and their places were located a short distance west of Yuba
City. In the same year Dr. S. R. Chandler added to his plantings.
C. F. Butler of Yuba City, E. W. Hixson of Franklin Corners, and T. B.
Hull, "down the river," became interested in horticulture about the same
time. G. F. Starr followed with a large orchard planting on his place north
of Yuba City, which tract now adjoins that of R. W. Skinner on the north
and, like Skinner's, borders the State Highway.
In 1886, the late B. F. Walton laid the foundation for the fruit industry
that has spread widely in the Bogue section. He chose peaches, almonds,
and prunes. Walton organized the first canning concern in Sutter County.
The Cutts & Hudson orchard of 155 acres, located near Live Oak, was
planted about this same time.
About two years later, the late J. T. Bogue, after whom Bogue Station,
popular fruit-shipping point, was named, put out forty acres of orchard and
established a nursery. He was the first nurseryman to propagate the Phillips
cling peach commercially.
250 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
R. W. Skinner, now regarded as the leading cherry expert in California,
first became prominent in the horticultural field about this time. He came
to this section from San Jose about 1887, and was the founder of a local
branch of the Golden Gate Packing Company. He previously had leased
orchards, purchased crops, and engaged as a shipper in several sections,
including the orange belt of Palermo, in Butte County. He is now interested
in one of the largest cherry orchards of Sutter County, north of Yuba City.
Plantings in the early nineties included the famed Giblin Brothers'
cherry orchard, just south of Yuba City. Owing to the good care given
to the sixty acres of trees planted on wonderful land specially adapted to the
cherry, tremendous crops of this fruit were produced for years, and still
are being harvested.
Herman Berg, of Berg Brothers, early settlers, put out twelve acres
of olives about this time, north of Yuba City, and Marcuse Brothers also
planted 100 acres to fruits on the bank of Feather River, their place being
east of Marcuse Station.
About the same time, also, B. S. J. Hiatt planted a large acreage to
pears on the bank of Sacramento River, near Kirksville. These plantings
were preceded by a few years by one on Bear River, northeast of Nicolaus.
C. P. Berry, who later became State Senator representing this district, was
the founder of this orchard of peaches and pears.
An interesting planting about this time was made by the late E. F.
Thornbrough along the Sacramento River, south of Meridian. Thornbrough
chose the "Robe de Sargent" prunes, now known as the "robe," among
orchardists. They were the first of this variety of prune to be planted in
Sutter County; and at. once the fruit grew into popularity. The trees
planted by Thornbrough are still bearing profitably.
The oldest prune orchard in Sutter County is that planted in 1890 by
Wesley T. Wilson, who showed foresightedness by putting out a large tract
to this fruit on the bank of Feather River southeast of Tudor. This orchard
still has the record for production, yielding seven tons of dried fruit to the
acre. The place is now owned by H. Cheim, of Marysville, and J. A. Ben-
nett, of Sutter County.
G. F. Starr also pioneered in prunes at his place north of Yuba City.
PRESENT STATUS OF THE FRUIT INDUSTRY
To print a list of those now engaged in the peach industry in Sutter
County would be to publish almost a complete census of the family heads
of the county. County Horticultural Commissioner H. P. Stabler, to whom
the compiler of this volume is indebted for much data on the history of
Sutter County's fruit plantings, has iisted at the present time 637 growers
of peaches; while of those cultivating fruits, of whatever variety, Stabler's
census shows the number to be 1034.
Quality, and Tonnage per Acre
Sutter County's orchards are noted not only for the quality of the fruit,
but also for the extremely heavy tonnage per acre. Miss Elaine Wilbur's
orchard of cling peaches has became famous throughout the country. For
two years Miss Wilbur has won the first prize in the annual peach contest,
for quality, tonnage, and condition of orchard, on Tuscan and Phillips cling
peaches. Her orchard, when five years old, had a record of twenty tons
and two hundred forty-two pounds per acre, on a plot of thirteen and two-
thirds acres, a record which then stood unchallenged.
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 251
In F. S. AValton's orchard of Phillips clings, one acre of particularly
fine trees produced twenty-six tons. L. A. Walton has had trees of Phillips
clings which regularly produced 1000 pounds per tree.
New Early-fruiting Midsummer Peach
In the spring of 1923, Roy Van Tiger, a fruit-grower of the Encinal
district, surprised the horticultural world with the announcement that
peach trees planted by him in 1922 would produce early in the summer of
1923. It proved to be so, though the crop was light. The newspapers in-
vestigated and found the trees to be of the new midsummer variety known
as the Palora, which had originated at Gridley, Butte County, by chance.
The limbs were found to be showing an average of thirty-five peaches to
the tree. Van Tiger had ten acres in his first planting.
M. J. Newkom was the first grower to plant this new cling peach in
Sutter County. He now has eight acres in full bearing. The peach is highly
valued, as it carries exceptionally well to distant canneries and its pro-
duction record is notable. At two years of age, Newkom's trees produced
three tons to the acre, and nine tons per acre at three years. At four years
the orchard produced fifteen tons to the acre.
The Palora started from a chance seedling found in the yard of the
Gridley cannery by a man named Dixon, who sent the buds to Linden,
San Joaquin County, for propagation, where the people by whom he was
employed had headquarters.
County Horticultural Commissioner H. P. Stabler has said that the
Palora is rapidly growing in favor with the growers, and will soon rank with
any of Sutter County's midsummer varieties. It is the first to appear each
season in that class.
Viticulture
Sharing honors with the peach, the Thompson Seedless grape has done
much to make Sutter County famous. From a few cuttings obtained by a
man named William Thompson, who lived near Sutter City, the growing of
this valuable grape has been developed in a little over a decade into one of
California's leading industries.
The seedless grape of commerce, known here as the Thompson Seedless,
was first grown in this country in Sutter County. Its potential value was
instantly recognized, and extensive plantings were made as rapidly as cut-
tings could be procured. Other sections of California have adopted this
grape, but Sutter County easily holds its position" as its home and principal
producing district in the State.
The Thompson Seedless lays claim to several superior qualities. It is a
medium-sized, oblong white grape, grows in large clusters or bunches, and
is entirely free from seeds. It has no equal as a raisin grape, and is also
delicious when eaten fresh. It possesses a high sugar content and a luscious
flavor, which together make it a favorite in any market.
The Thompson Seedless is shipped as a fresh grape to the cities of the
Pacific Coast, and growers are each year expectantly looking forward to the
day when improved shipping facilities will permit its being sold in larger
quantities than now, and delivered fresh in the cities of the East. Excellent
prices are received for both the raisins and the green grapes.
Many other varieties of table and wine grapes, including the well-
known Zante currants, are grown in this county.
Almonds at Home in Sutter County
Almonds are particular about where they grow. California is the only
State that grows almonds commercially ; and it is not everywhere, even
252 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
within California, that this nut is at home. Sutter County is one of the most
favored almond-growing districts, and this crop represents one of its most
valuable industries. The almond is an inhabitant of temperate climes. It
blossoms the earliest of all fruit trees, and will not stand much frost. One
great advantage to the producer of the almond, as well as of other fruits,
lies in the fact that the growers of California are well organized, and a
central selling agency fixes the prices at which the crop shall be sold, which
insures profitable selling prices and effectually checkmates any possibility
of a combination en the part of the buyers to say how much the grower
shall be paid for his crop.
Prunes and Plums
Prunes and plums are valuable fruit crops, although they do not repre-
sent quite the acreage of peaches, grapes or almonds. The crops are at
present harvested mostly from trees of comparatively recent planting ; but
there are hundreds of acres of young orchards that are soon to come into
bearing, and heavy plantings are being made as a result of the large and
highly profitable crops from the older trees.
The prune has always ranked as one of California's most important
fruits. Many fortunes have been made from the much-abused prune, be-
cause it is a highly dependable crop, and one that can be relied upon to run
true to form year in and year out.
Present-day growers who specialize in prunes are. The Herman Berg
Estate, Frank Berry, Mrs. G. H. Taylor, Thorn Brothers, Henry Van Tiger,
Leonard Walton, Glenn Walton, Eloyd Wilbur, Elaine Wilbur, E. A. Boyn-
ton, Lester Clark, A. W. Cutts, A. W. Hincks, A. E. Bigger, M. J. Newkom,
Glenn Onstott, J. A. Onstott, G. H. Stewart, Charles F. Rednall, C. C.
Schell, T. H. Stafford, E. W. Stanton, and Rosenberg Brothers & Company.
Growing and Packing of Figs
Figs are an important product. One of the large dried-fruit packing-
houses at Yuba City was built for the purpose of packing figs. The busi-
ness grew to such proportions that dried figs were imported from surround-
ing counties for packing. Nearly every grocery in the United States at
this time sells figs packed in Yuba City. In Sutter County you can liter-
ally "sit under your own vine and fig tree."
Fruit Plantings in 1923
During the planting season of 1923 the Sutter County acreage planted
to trees, plants, shrubs, and vines was 5316 acres. Of this area, the acreage
planted to cling peaches was 3705. The season eclipsed all previous records
in Sutter County. The number of trees, vines, shrubs and plants inspected
was 1,334,119. These figures are taken from the report of H. P. Stabler,
horticultural commissioner of the county.
The total of peach trees planted during that season was 378,764. The
Phillips cling predominated, with 168,763 trees ; the Palora was next, with,
68,882; and the Tuscan variety was third, with 50,438 trees. Other leading
varieties planted were: Peaks, 22,579; Libbee, 13,905; Johnson, 12.233;
and Sims, 11,157. Under the 10,000 mark were the Hauss, Guame, Walton,
Harris, Selma, Flint, Albright, Muirs, Lovel, and seedlings.
The number of prune trees set out during this season was 54,559, on
546 acres. The French led, with 469 acres ; Imperials were next, with 36
acres ; and the Robes were third, with 5 acres. Thirty-six acres were
planted to seedling prunes.
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 253
Other varieties of trees planted during this remarkable season were :
Apricots. 4487; almonds, 11,316; walnuts, 852; pears, 4290; plums, 9590;
and cherries, 9509.
There was also a large planting in grapes, the total of vines put out
being 233.005, distributed between the following varieties : Alicante Bou-
schet. 90,550; Thompson Seedless, 95,705: Zinfandels, 38,950; Granache.
6000: Muscat, 700; Emperor, 700; and Petit Sirrah, 400.
CHAPTER VII
THE FIGHT AGAINST HYDRAULIC MINING
Sutter and Yuba Counties have seen days other than care-free. During
the years when the Sacramento Valley was menaced by the hydraulic mining
process, stout hearts and willing hands were required to meet the exigencies
brought about by the actions of the mountaineers. Strained relations grew
up between the mountain and valley sections, and litigation in the courts
was long-drawn-out. Owners of mines evaded, by every hook and crook,
the court processes issued after the valley watchmen sent into the moun-
tains had secured the evidence.
Work of the Anti-Debris Associations
To give strength to the cause of the valley in defending the homes
of its citizens, the Anti-Debris Association of the Sacramento Valley was
formed, and later on it became necessary to organize a State-wide bod)'.
This latter was known as the California Debris Association.
The complaints drawn by the attorneys employed by these associa-
tions were voluminous. Always they pointed out that until the process of
hydraulic mining was begun, the rivers were clear streams of water running
in well-defined channels, between natural banks sufficiently high to confine
the waters and protect the lands adjacent thereto and upon the margin of
the streams from overflow and from damage by flood waters. The point
was stressed that the grade of the rivers and their tributaries from the
dumps of the hydraulic mines to where the stream debouched into the valley
exceeded thirty feet to the mile, but that from there to the mouth of the
stream the grade was much less, varying from one to five feet to the mile.
The complaint also averred, with good ground, that the greater part of the
tailings and debris from hydraulic mining operations was swept away and
carried by the force of the water down through the defiles and canyons of
the river into the valley, and that the deposit of the said mining tailings and
debris in the headwaters of the rivers increased the grade of the stream
and made it more uniform, and also made the bottom smoother by filling
deep holes therein, and thereby facilitating the downward flow of the tail-
ings through the mountain courses of the streams.
It was made plain in the court papers that from the place of debouch-
ment of the rivers into the valley down to the mouth of the river, owing
to the great reduction in the grade of the stream, a large portion of the
slickens, sand, clay, and small stones from the hydraulic mines, instead of
passing through the channel of the river, choked and filled its channels and
overflowed its banks and the adjacent lands.
254 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
Hydraulicking Defined
Hydraulic mining was defined, as then practiced, as a mode or process
of mining for gold through which high banks of earth and gravel, usually
composed of strata containing gold enough to pay for the washing, and
strata which did not contain gold, were washed and removed from their
natural position, after being shaken up and shattered by means of immense
blasts of powder, into sluiceways and flumes, and thence into the natural
watercourses and rivers, by means of large streams of water forced through
iron pipes and thence discharged from nozzles attached to the pipes, with
great force and velocity, against the banks of earth and gravel, by a heavy
water-pressure of from 100 to 500 feet in height, the gold being separated
from the earth, sand and gravel by the action of the water, and retained in
the pavements of sluiceways and flumes, whilst the refuse matter, consist-
ing of boulders, cobbles, stones, pebbles, sand and clay, generally known as
"tailings" or "debris" from the mines, were washed into and down the
natural courses and rivers and deposited in the beds and channels through
their entire length, the heavier portion thereof being first deposited and
lodged in the upper portions of the watercourses and rivers, whilst the
lighter portions were carried further down and deposited in the lower por-
tions of the streams.
Magnitude of the Menace
Mining by the hydraulic process had been practiced and carried on to
some extent in the mountainous part of the State of California for twenty
years prior to the commencement of the litigation. It attained great dimen-
sions about the year 1876, and from that time was carried on extensively,
principally in the counties of Butte, Yuba, Sierra, Nevada and Placer,
and on a small scale in some other counties, as in the hilly parts of a few of
the valley counties lying east of the Sacramento River.
The tailings from a part of the hydraulic mines operated in Nevada
County, and the tailings from most of those operated in Yuba County, were
discharged into Bear River, which stream dumps into Feather River. This
was interesting not only to Yuba and Sutter Counties, but also to Sacra-
mento County. The three counties were for years contributors, through
monthly payments made by the supervisors, to a fund for meeting the ex-
penses of the valley watchmen sent into the mountains to investigate and
make frequent reports of violations of the rule to "so use your property as
not to damage that of your neighbor."
Operators of certain mines and mining claims located in the vicinity
of You Bet, in Nevada County, and near Greenhorn Creek, were among
the most persistent offenders. Their tailings were dumped into Greenhorn
Creek about a mile above its junction with Bear River. Some of the banks
washed by water were as high as 150 feet, of which the upper two-thirds
consisted of earth and sand and the lower one-third of coarse blue gravel,
the latter material being impossible of being worked out without carrying
with it superincumbent strata of lighter material.
It was charged that about 2000 cubic yards of solid material composed
of cobblestones, boulders, gravel and clay were dumped daily into the river
and its tributaries. The ground sluice process, at the same time, was con-
sidered as fraught with as much danger to the valley streams as the
hydraulic process. At the time the hydraulickers were "putting in their
best licks," the material being washed from the mines seemed almost in-
exhaustible. The mine-owners usually claimed the right of mining by their
processes, upon the theory that they had an easement to deposit their tail-
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 255
ings in the rivers and streams. The earth they used during each mining
season was estimated at 600,000 cubic yards.
Not until the famed Sawyer decision against the hydraulickers was
rendered, did the valley residents breath easily. Following the forced cessa-
tion of hydraulic mining, through the court's injunction, the valley reaches
of the rivers that had been choked up began perceptibly to cut out. or
"scour." The United States government and the State helped out some
through a plan of "river correction," placing wing-dams, and constructing
cut-offs to carry the flood-waters and to help the rivers to "scour." The
effect soon became very perceptible in the vicinity of Marysville and Yuba
City. Both the Yuba and Feather Rivers, and also the Bear River, are now
showing high banks that well control the waters.
The change has permitted the safe planting of orchards and vineyards
outside the levees. Young orchards may at this time be observed planted
on lands where are buried the earlier homes and fruit tracts, to a depth of
from twenty-five to thirty feet. The valley divisions of the rivers are
gradually being restored to their former and original condition, with narrow
and deep channels and hard bottoms, and with pure water running through
them. In the course of a few years, if the regulations imposed by "the present
laws are adhered to, the property along the lower reaches of the rivers
will be immune from all injury of the character that prevailed in the days
of the hydraulic-mining menace.
Litigation in State Courts
Suits carried through the State courts and other tribunals with little
gained by the farmers, were numerous. The case of Keys against the Little
York Mining Company and others was commenced in January, 1877. It was
removed to the Circuit Court, remanded to the State court — the order remand-
ing having been appealed to and affirmed by the Supreme Court — and
finally tried in the State court, in which there was a decision for the com-
plainant. The decree obtained was reversed on appeal in 1879, without a
decision upon its merits, on the technical ground of misjoinder of defendants.
In September, 1879, the city of Marysville commenced suit in the Dis-
trict Court of Yuba County, presided over by Judge Phil W. Keyser. alleg-
ing the same state of facts and asking similar relief as in other cases, A
preliminary injunction was granted. Afterwards the North Bloomfield
Gravel Mining Company, a defendant in the suit, with others, filed a petition
for a writ of prohibition in the State Supreme Court, alleging that Judge
Keyser was the owner of two lots in Yuba City, which place was subject
to the same river troubles as Marysville. The Supreme Court, in July, 1881,
held that Judge Keyser was disqualified to act in the case, as he was
interested.
The suit of The People against the Gold Run Mining Company and
others, followed in Jul}", 1881, to restore original conditions on Bear River.
This resulted in a very able opinion by Judge Temple of Sonoma County,
formerly a member of the Supreme Court of the State of California. Judge
Temple's decision was in favor of the valley, but the miners remained
obstinate and continued their operations under cover.
The case of Sutter County against the Miocene Mining Company,
started in June, 1881, was another battle from which but little good flowed.
Relief in the Federal Courts
Not until Col. Edwards AYoodruff, owner of the AYoodruff Block in
Marysville, and of two tracts of land in Yuba County, came forward and
permitted his name to be used as a non-resident, as recpiired by law, did
256 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
the people of the valley make any headway. The Woodruff suit was started
against the North Bloomfield Gravel Mining" Company and others, in the
United States Circuit Court ; and through it came the permanent relief the
valley men had sought through all the years of litigation.
January 7, 1884, was the day they had been hoping for. That is the
date upon which the famous Sawyer decision was handed down, perpetu-
ally enjoining hydraulic mining operations in California. There were great
demonstrations of joy throughout the valley, at the news of the decision in
favor of the farmers. Strong men wept, as bells pealed and whistles blew
the note of victory for the valley. Stores and business houses were illum-
inated that night ; bonfires' blazed on every corner ; cannons roared, while
the church and school bells chimed in. There was joy and delight every-
where ; and real estate advanced 100 per cent in value. From every section
of the State came press notices congratulating the farmers upon the attain-
ment of their right to defend their homes and farms and families. As far
south as Bakersfield, felicitations were printed in the newspapers. The
people of Marysville and Yuba City could scarcely contain themselves.
The Sawyer Decision
The decision of Judge Sawyer is a voluminous one, broad and sweep-
ing, yet tempered with sympathy for the losers. It can be found in full,
by any person desiring to read it, in Volume No. 18 of Federal Reports, at
page 753 et seq. These reports may be found in any well-appointed law
library, such as is to be found at the Yuba County Courthouse. We quote
from the concluding paragraphs of the lengthy document, as follows :
"We are fully satisfied that the acts of the defendants complained of
are not authorized by any valid custom or usage, or by any valid law,
statute, or otherwise, by the State of California, or of the United States;
and that complainant is entitled to such relief as shall fully and amply pro-
tect him from any further injuries to his property and any further encroach-
ments upon his rights. What shall the remedy be? It would be difficult
to appreciate too highly the importance of the mining interests. The fact
is patent that immense sums of money have been, and they are now em-
ployed in this branch of industry. The boldness with which capitalists, and
especially these defendants, have invested large amounts of capital ; the
perfection to which those engaged in hydraulic mining have brought ma-
chines and appliances for successful mining ; the vast enterprises they have
undertaken and successfully carried out ; the energy, perseverance, great
engineering and mining skill displayed in pursuing these enterprises, excite
wonder and unbounded admiration. In view of these undisputed, indisput-
able and well-known facts, no one could possibly be more averse than we
are to applying any remedy to the grievances complained of that must put
an end to hydraulic mining, if any other can be devised permitting of its
continuance, campatible with the safety and rights of the public, the com-
plainant and numerous others similarly situated, of whom he is a repre-
sentative. We have therefore sought with painful anxiety some other rem-
edy ; but none has been suggested that appears to us to be at all adequate
to the exegencies of the case, or at least more available in the present
stage of the case. Two were suggested in Mendell's report. First, the
purchase of large tracts of low lands in the valleys, which are now or may be
permanently covered with water without material injury to navigation, or
other property-owners, and turning the entire Yuba, with its debris, into
them, using them as settling reservoirs. Secondly, the building of immense
impounding dams at suitable points on the river, to hold back the heavy
portions of debris.
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 257
"The first seemed to he regarded as too expensive to he feasible. The
second is the only one suggested and urged in this case, and much testimony
has been taken as to the practicability and safety of the plan. As is
usually the case, the views of different engineers and experts distinguished
in their profession differ widely upon points of practicability and safety.
The larger number of witnesses called, and much the larger amount of
testimony, so far as mere opinion goes, are doubtless in favor of the prac-
ticability, if sufficient means is furnished. But all the practical experi-
ments heretofore made, at great expense, under the supervision of the State
and of competent engineers, have been lamentable failures. The dams con-
structed were doubtless, in many instances, defective. But what guaranty
have the court, and those whose lives and property are at stake, that any
future works of the kind will not also be defective? As at present advised,
with some knowledge of the operations of the tremendous forces of nature,
we cannot undertake to say, upon the mere opinion of experts generally at
variance, as in this case, however competent, that the scheme would be
practical and safe. "YVe cannot define in advance what work shall be suffi-
cient, and authorize the continuance of the acts complained of upon the
performance of any prescribed conditions.
"A great deal has been said about the comparative public importance of
the mining interests, and also the great loss and inconvenience to those
defendants if their operations should be stopped by injunction. But these
are considerations with which we have nothing to do. We are simply to
determine whether the complainant's rights have been infringed, and, if so,
afford him such relief as the law entitles him to receive, whatever the con-
sequence or inconvenience to the wrong-doers or to the general public may
be. 'After an examination of the great questions involved, as careful and
thorough as we are capable of giving them, with a painfully anxious appre-
ciation of the responsibilities resting upon us, and of the disastrous conse-
quences to the defendants, we can come to no other conclusion than that
complainant is entitled to a perpetual injunction. But as it is possible
that some mode ma}- be devised in the future for obviating the injuries —
either one of those suggested or some other — and successfully carried out,
so as to be both safe and effective, a clause will be inserted in the decree
giving leave on any future occasion, when some such plan has been success-
fully executed, to apply to the court for a modification or suspension of the
injunction. Let a decree be entered accordingly."
Judge Dead)- concurred in the decision. In so doing he used the follow-
ing language, in part:
"I fully concur in the learned and able opinion of the Circuit Judge in
both its reason and conclusion. It exhausts the subject, and leaves nothing
to be added, either by way of statement, argument, illustration or authority
"I am by no means unconcerned or indifferent to the effect of this deci-
sion upon the large capital invested in these mines. But it is a fundamental
principle of civilized society, and particularly such as is based upon the com-
mon law, that no one shall use his property so as to injure the rights of an-
other — sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas.
"From this salutary rule no one is exempt — not even the public — and
the defendants must submit to it. Without it the weak would be at the
mercy of the strong, and might make right."
Valley Men Who Stood in the Vanguard
Fighting in the vanguard during all the years of the litigation were
such men as Dr. Eli Teegarden, Dr. C. E. Stone. C. P. Berry, Daniel A.
Ostrom, George Ohleyer, Edwin A. Davis, A. D. Cutts, Dr. D. P. Durst,
A. C. Bingham, W. T. Ellis, and R. G. Stanwood.
258 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
Other ardent and enthusiastic supporters of the valley cause were :
Lyman Ackley, John C. White, W. T. Phipps, Hugh Morrison, C. K. Dam.
B. F. Dam, Charles E. Sexey, E. A. Forbes, while filling the position of
district attorney, and Eugene P. McDaniel, the present superior judge of
Yuba County, who was promoted from the district attorneyship.
Still others were Kirby S. Mahon, present head of the Sutter County
Superior Court, A. C. McLaughlin, John H. Jewett, Peter Decker, N. D.
Rideout, David E. Knight, T. R. Boyd, C. R. Bovd. C. E. AVilcoxon,
and T. B. Hull.
Firms that were ever ready with backing were : AY T. Ellis & Son ;
White. Cooley & Cutts ; the J. R. Garrett Company ; and others.
George Ohleyer
Foremost among the defenders of the valley men's rights, having his
own newspaper to mold opinion, was George Ohleyer, editor of the Sutter
Count}' Farmer. In an editorial written on the day the news of the Sawyer
decision was rendered, Ohleyer spoke his mind as follows :
"The decision of Judge Sawyer is so clear and comprehensive, so full
of common law, common sense and justice, and being most ably seconded
by two other United States judges, it will prove to be a fruitless and hope-
less task to attempt to secure a modification or reversal of the judgment
of the United States Supreme Court. We, therefore, regard the conflict be-
tween the respective parties settled beyond recall by this decision. We
never had any doubt of the final result ; but it was siege of seven years'
duration, hotly contested inch by inch, during which time the stoutest
hearts were wont to weaken, if but for a moment. The struggle was for
family, home, life and prosperity — all that is worth living for — and could
not be abandoned except by cowards.
"During this memorable contest, every engagement resulted in a par-
tial victory for justice and the valley, except the first, and that was a drawn
battle, made so by a cowardly court. It is needless to say we refer to the
Keys case, where life and means were offered up as a sacrifice for that
decision — evasion rather, for it was .no decision at all. Step by step the
battle waxed hotter, and with each charge something was gained for the
cause of right. Time nor space will permit us at this time to note the
various incidents of the long siege. We will therefore confine ourselves
to the AVoodruff onslaught.
"It was one thing to secure an injunction in our State courts, but it
was quite another to enforce it. The mandates of our courts were evaded
and treated with the utmost contempt. This circumstance, pointed the way
to the Federal courts, whose mandates were likely to be respected. AA^ood-
ruff, a non-resident, was eligible to ask the protection of this court, and
proceedings were instituted about eighteen months ago, since which time,
considering all things, rapid progress has been made. The opposing forces
sought to evade this process, but the court told them that if they did not
come into court they would be at once enjoined. This had the desired
effect, and a legal battle ensued in December, 1882 ; and defendants' plea of
a misjoinder was in due process overruled, and they were notified to prepare
for the final struggle. It now became apparent that their ship had become
weak and leaky ; two of their chief commanders had abandoned the concern.
Others were called in, less scrupulous, but bolder and more reckless. The
course of the ship was condemned, and the new commander changed her
course and ran her onto the breakers ; and on last Monday, the 7th of January,
1884, the ship and her crew went to the bottom never to rise again.
"'Thus, after years of backing and filling, crimination and recrimination,
the issue has been settled by a court which has power to enforce its judg-
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 259
ment. This is cause for rejoicing, as well by the mountain dwellers as by
the valley residents. A new era will dawn on both sections, enterprise
will develop whatever of good lies hidden in mountain and valley, and
the rights of all will be guarded and respected. The agricultural capa-
bilities of the mountain regions are very great, to the development of
which the Farmer will be an industrious co-worker. Let the mountain
press lead the way."
The public life of Ohleyer was one of active service in whatever posi-
tion of honor he was placed. A careful, conservative, conscientious, untir-
ing worker, he was recognized as a man of more than ordinary wisdom
and ability, and was given a place in the foremost rank in public affairs. In
1874 he was elected supervisor of the county, and served one term ; and he
also served as commissioner of Levee District No. 1. He was a member of
the State constitutional convention, and served Sutter and Yuba Counties
in the legislature from 1886 to 1888.
In the service of the valley, in the struggle against the hydraulic-mining
evil, he was one of the "fathers of the anti-debris movement." From its
inception he was closely identified with the work, giving his time and best
thought to the cause, as he did in all things. Among the first of the organ-
izers of the old Anti-Debris Association of the Sacramento Valley, he served
faithfully as manager during the active life of that body, and was then
placed on the executive committee of the State Anti-Debris Association,
which body took up the work where the Sacramento Valley Association
laid it down. For the anti-debris cause and the improvement of the rivers
of the State, he made three different trips to Washington ; and his able
efforts there wrought much good.
In connection with this service, in 1881, with other prominent men,
he organized the Sutter Publishing Company, and founded the Sutter
County Farmer, combining the Journal and the Banner. He remained as
editor until 1890. Thereafter he continued as a fluent and able writer to
the press of the State.
To local enterprises and organizations he contributed freely of his time
and his funds. He was founder of the Farmers' Cooperative Union, the
history of which concern is presented in another chapter of this volume.
He was interested in cannery and publishing companies for many years,
and at the same time handled his farming interests. He was prominent
in the State and local Granges, Patrons of Husbandry.
George Ohleyer was called by death on Saturday evening, August 15,
1896. In commenting upon his death, the editor of the Sutter County Farmer,
formerly his paper, said :
"The sad news of the demise of George Ohleyer came as a distinct
shock to his many friends, wdio were rejoicing that he was apparently
recovering from the amputation of his leg, made on the previous Thursday.
A clot forming in the heart was the immediate cause of death. He was
born in Alsace, France, in 1831. He came with his parents to the United
States when two years of age, to Wayne County, New York, whence the
family removed to Ohio in 1835. It was in 1852 that Ohleyer came to
California and engaged in mining a short time ; then he worked on a farm
in Solano County for two years, and returned to Ohio. In 1856 he came
back to California and settled in Yuba County, where he lived until 1865,
when he removed to Sutter County, remaining until death. He was married
in 1855 to Miss Ellen Guthrie, of Ohio, who still survives him. There were
left four sons and three daughters : George. Fred, Frank, Louis, Mrs. Anna
Hausinger, Mrs. Mary r Frick, and Miss Ada Ohleyer."
260 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
Funeral services were held at the Ohleyer home, August 18 at 1 p. m.
Only a sheaf of wheat rested upon his casket, this at the request of his
family. His remains are at rest in South Butte Cemetery, to which spot
they were followed by one of the largest corteges in the history of Sutter
County. At his grave the beautiful rites of the Patrons of Husbandry
were read by the Worthy Manager of the State Grange, W. \V. Greer.
Those who acted as pall-bearers at the funeral were : George W. Carpenter,
Justus Greely, J. H. Kimball, L. P. Farmer, W. J. Gray, and T. B. Hull,
all of whom have since joined him on the other shore.
A Song of Victory
In the Sutter County Farmer, shortly after George Ohleyer had written
his editorial covering the Sawyer decision, the following verses were pub-
lished from the pen of a contributor who signed himself "Cooley."
GOOD-BYE, SLICKENS, GOOD-BYE!
Solid Fact: Perpetual injunction. ' *
Golden Text: "Othello's occupation gone."
Central Lesson: Grin and bear it.
No more in torrents thick as mush
Shall mud and gravel combine,
To cover o'er fair fields and flowers
And desolate this farm of mine ;
The flume-led streams from pent-up lakes
No longer level mountains high.
Destroy our crops, or give us shakes.
Good-bye, Slickens, good-bye !
Good-bye, Slickens, good-bye !
Good-bye, Debris, good-bye ;
No more you'll devastate our streams.
Good-bye, Hydraul, good-bye !
Polluted waters will soon get clear
And property be worth its cost;
Tho' 'twill be very long, we fear.
Ere we get back what we have lost.
We'll not be forced to pay our all
To keep our levees mountain high ;
High taxes soon will have a fall.
Good-bye, Hydraul, good-bye !
Now let our brethren of the mines
Accept the law — they'll find 'twill pay — ■
And "drift" or blast the gravel finds,
Or mine it in some other way;
So "use their own as not to hurt"
The land of other neighbors nigh.
They'll find 'twill lessen not their gain ;
We'll both be richer bye and bye.
Good-bye, Slickens, good-bye !
Good-bye, Hydraul, good-bye ;
For mines and lands should both shake hands —
Adios, old Slickens, good-bye !
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 261
The Caminetti Act
Seeking some way out of their difficulties after the. Sawyer decision
disturbed their plans, the miners succeeded in having a law made in Congress
known as the Caminetti Act, named after Congressman A. Caminetti of
Amador County, Cal. This act provided for impounding works and reservoirs
to be built to the satisfaction of the California Debris Commission, so as
not to interfere with the navigability of rivers and harbors. As was antici-
pated by the people of the valley, the law proved to be a subterfuge. The
dams built under its terms proved to be flimsy structures behind which
the debris piled high in one season, causing other suits to be brought in the
United States courts. The California Debris Commission finally came to
realize that the cost of the real dam the Caminetti law provided for was
prohibitive, and they made a rule not to give further permits for the camou-
flaged sort, with the result that hydraulic mining was virtually put out of
business. At the present time, however, $24,000,000 is being spent by the
Yuba River Power Company in the construction of a dam at Bullard's Bar,
in Yuba County, behind which it is proposed to rehabilitate hydraulicking.
Those of the valley who remember the trying days of the seventies and
eighties are inclined to view the enterprise somewhat differently from those
who are strangers to the conditions of years agone.
CHAPTER VIII
WORK OF THE WOMEN'S CLUBS
It may interest the reader of this volume in future years to know that
at the present Sutter County is maintaining six of the most active clubs of
the California Federation of Women's Clubs. These six clubs are : The
Bogue Wednesday Club, a rural organization of 150 members holding meet-
ings in their own club house twice each month ; the Live Oak Women's
Club of Live Oak, having over fifty members, and meeting twice a month
in their own club house ; the W r ilson Women's Club, an active country club
of the southern part of the county, now planning upon its own club house,
its membership being fifty-five, and meeting every other week; the Tierra
Buena Improvement Club, another rural organization, with a membership
of fifty, also meeting twice a month in a new $6000 house of their own
building; the Ladies' Improvement Club of Sutter, at the foot of the famous
Sutter Buttes, with a membership of forty-eight, meeting in their own
community hall ever}- other week; and the Woman's Club of Meridian, com-
prised of forty members, meeting twice a month in the auditorium of Meridi-
an's fine new grammar school. These clubs are all doing active departmental
work along federation lines, in music, art, health, conservation, legislation,
home economics, Americanization, motion pictures, early California history,
civic and social improvement, and community betterment.
Bi-County Federation of Women's Clubs
Together with the two federated clubs of Yuba County — the Marysville
Art Club and the AVheatland Civic Improvement Club — these clubs met in
May, 1920. and formed the Bi-Countv Federation of Women's Clubs. Three
262 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
times during each year this Bi-County Federation has held an all-day conven-
tion at various club centers. This organization has proven and bears out the
State motto. "Strength United is Stronger." Concerted action in the depart-
mental work has borne fruit along several lines, including better motion
pictures, legislation and the restoration and preservation of historic land-
marks. Sutter and Yuba Counties having many locations of historical im-
portance, the Bi-County Federation planned the marking of these historic
spots with bronze tablets or other suitable monuments as rapidly as funds
could be obtained for the purpose.
Unveiling of Monument to Fremont
Sunday, April 15. 1923, witnessed the first important dedication of a
landmark on the Sutter side of the river. On that date, beginning at two
o'clock in the afternoon, in the presence of a large assemblage, the Bi-County
Federation, of which Mrs. C. H. Dam of Wheatland was then president,
unveiled a monument erected upon the spot in the South Butte Pass where
Capt. John C. Fremont, the, "Pathfinder," camped in 1846.
A newspaper printed on the following day contained the following story
of the unveiling of the monument, which stands by the side of the road
about a mile from Sutter City :
"Credit for possessing the same adventurous spirit that inspired his fore-
bears in France and America to face the unknown, and dare the seemingly
impossible, was given Major-General John C. Fremont by Fred H. Greely
of Marysville, Sunday afternoon, in an address which Greely delivered during
the dedicatory ceremonies in connection with the unveiling of a monument
to the memory of General Fremont on the DeAVitt place in South Butte
Pass. In the center of the monument, which marks the spot where General
Fremont, the 'Pathfinder,' camped for eight days in the year 1846, is a marker
bearing this inscription :
" 'In commemoration of Major-General John C. Fremont, United States
Army, and his expedition,
" 'Encamped in the Sutter Buttes in this vicinity. May 30, 1846, to June
8, 1846, while on the march from Klamath Lake to Sonoma, where he repre-
sented the United States government during the Bear Flag uprising, which
resulted in the acquisition of California from Mexico.
" 'Erected by the Bi-County Federation of AVomen's Clubs, Sutter and
Yuba Counties, 1923.'
"Greely, past president of the Native Sons of the Golden West, traced
the career of General Fremont from his birth in Virginia, in 1813, to the
days when he acquired from Senator Benton, who afterward was his father-
in-law, the desire for exploration. Greely quoted Benton as predicting that
'the fringe of civilization on the eastern coast of America was to stretch
from sea to sea.'
"General Fremont's three expeditions were described by the speaker,
the first to the Rocky Mountains, and south of the Lewis and Clark line;
the second beyond the Rockies ; and the third to California, supported by
sixty-two of the finest marksmen in America, and with instructions from
the government to hold the country against the Mexicans. When ordered
by the Mexican governor, Castro, to leave the State, Fremont first defied
him and then, in the way of acquiescing, moved north by way of the Kern
River to Yuba City, thence to Klamath Lake. It was while returning south
that he camped on the north side of the Sutter Buttes, remaining there only
a few clays, and then moving to the spot where the marker was placed yes-
terday, on account of a heavy wind. Behind South Butte he found shelter
from the wind, and camped there eight days.
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 263
"H. P. Peterson, field man for the landmarks section of the State Library,
who followed Greely, confessed that some difficulty had been experienced
in locating the spot where General Fremont first camped in the Buttes. Grad-
ually, however, aided by Fremont's own memoirs, marks are being found
which may yet uncover the spot. Peterson thanked the board of supervisors
for their liberal subscription to the fund that made the Fremont marker
possible, and also expressed his gratitude to the club women who worked
so unceasingly in order that the monument might be erected.
"Mrs. A. L. Miller of Marysville, past president of the Northern District
Federation of California Women's Clubs, detailed the object of the clubs'
department of history and landmarks of California.
"In presenting the marker to the care of Sutter County, Mrs. C. H.
Dam of Wheatland, president of the Bi-County Federation, handed to Super-
visor Frank H. Graves, of Pennington, a deed to the ground upon which
the monument stands. The deed shows that Mrs. Florence DeWitt, widow
of the late W. G. DeWitt, donated the plat upon which the monument is
erected. DeWitt Bros., sons of Mrs. DeWitt, donated the rock and granite,
hauling all the material from the quarry, a mile distant. The deed to the
ground is to the State of California, but the Sutter supervisors will con-
stitute the caretakers of the landmark.
"During the unveiling of the monument by Miss Ada Ohleyer and Miss
Edna Hewitt, the Marysville Grammar School Boys' Band rendered 'The
Star-Spangled Banner.' Fred H. Greely then said that it was peculiarly
fitting and extremely fortunate that Miss Ohleyer should take part in the
ceremony of unveiling. He referred to Miss Ohleyer as 'a daughter of a
man who deserves the name of Preserver of the Valley.' Greely paid a warm
tribute to the late George Ohleyer, newspaper man of Yuba City in his life-
time, as 'a leader among the men who so valiantly fought for the valley and
saved it from being buried in the silt from the hydraulic mining process.'
"Among those who occupied seats of honor on the speakers' stand was
W. C. Gibson, Grand Army veteran of Sutter City. Gibson served for a time
with General John C. Fremont during the Civil War, being a member of
Company I, Twelfth Kansas Volunteer Infantry. He is one of five surviving
members of Corinth Post, No. 80, Grand Army of the Republic. Others
occupying the stand were Rev. W. B. Redburn of Yuba City, who delivered
the invocation ; H. P. Stabler, who told of meetings he had with General
Vallejo ; Supervisor F. H. Graves ; Mrs. A. L. McPherrin ; and Mrs. C. K.
Dam, of Berkeley, who is a pioneer of the Wheatland section.
"Nevada County sent a delegation to the ceremony, comprising Mrs.
Allison F. Watt of Grass Valley, a Past Grand President of the Native
Daughters of the Golden West ; Mrs. Maud Waldron, president of Manza-
nita Parlor of Native Daughters of Grass Valley ; Mrs. Beatrice George, a
past president of the same parlor; and Ray George, a past president of
Quartz Parlor of Native Sons of the same place.
"It is estimated that 1000 people attended the exercises."
After the successful termination of their campaign for the Fremont
memorial, the clubs began to plan for a marker on the spot on Hock Farm,
nine miles below Yuba City on the Feather River, where Gen. John A. Sutter
built a fort and home in 1848.
Cross to Surmount Buttes
A movement to erect an immense cross at the peak of the Sutter Buttes,
under which Easter-morn sunrise services may be held annually, has met
with the approval of Rt. Rev. Bishop William Hall Moreland, of the Epis-
copal diocese of Sacramento. For the past two years sunrise services have
264 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
been conducted before a temporary cross erected on a convenient peak not
far from Sutter Citv. On Sunday, April 22, 1923, Bishop Moreland issued
the following' statement in advocacy of the movement for a permanent cross:
"The erection of a great cross on the Sutter Buttes, which may be seen
from every side, is a beautiful conception and should be carried out. A
bountiful Creator has poured His blessings with a lavish hand upon Cali-
fornia, and nowhere does the smile of His favor shine with more brilliancy
than upon the rich fields and orchards, the fertile lands, the prosperous
towns, happy homes, the schools, churches, hospitals and other evidences
of His presence among men, that center about the city of Marysville.
"The cross, standing out as a landmark over the countryside, will re-
mind the thousands of residents, travelers and visitors that California is a
God-fearing State ; that, amid their material possessions and prospects,
our people do not forget that Christian character is the supreme achievement.
It will lead to a more thoughtful, spiritual life, and be an educational influ-
ence of great value to all, especially to the children."
For the purpose of furthering the movement, the Sutter Butte Cross
Association has been formed among the citizens of Yuba and Sutter Counties.
CHAPTER IX
PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND PROFESSIONAL MEN
Yuba and Sutter Counties, during the years of their existence, have
always been closely affiliated politically, being in the same Senatorial and
Assembly districts, and for a long time, in their early history, under orie
judge of the Superior Court. Both are in the sixth Senatorial district, and
in the eighth Assembly district. Butte and Yolo Counties also are in the
sixth Senatorial district, while Yolo County alone figures with Yuba and
Sutter in the eighth Assembly district.
Those who have served in legislative positions since the organization
of the districts in 1851 are:
Senators of Sixth District (1851-1923)
1851: E. O. Crosby, second session.
1852: Philip W. Keyser, third session.
1853 and 1854: Samuel B. Smith, fourth and fifth sessions.
1855 and 1856 : P. C. Rust, sixth and seventh sessions.
1857 and 1858: Jesse O. Goodwin, eighth and ninth sessions.
1859-1863: W. H. Parks, tenth to fourteenth session.
1863 (December): C. S. Haswell, fifteenth session.
1865 and 1867: Eli Teegarden, sixteenth and seventeenth sessions.
1869 and 1871 : S. C. Hutchings, eighteenth and nineteenth sessions.
1873 and 1875: Stephen Spencer, twentieth and twenty-first sessions.
1877: J. O. Goodwin, twenty-second session.
1880 and 1881 : Edwin A. Davis, twenty-third and twenty-fourth sessions.
1883-1887: Augustus L. Chandler, twenty-fifth to twenty-seventh session.
1889: F. H. Greely, twenty-eighth session.
1891 and 1893 : Daniel A. Ostrom, twenty-ninth and thirtieth sessions.
1895 and 1897: Eugene Aram, thirty-first and thirtv-second sessions;
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 265
1899 and 1901 : William M. Cutter, thirty-third and thirty-fourth sessions.
1903 and 1905: Marshall Diggs, thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth sessions.
1907-1913: A. E. Boynton, thirty-seventh to fortieth session.
1915-1921 : W. E. Duncan, Jr., forty-first to forty-fourth session.
1923: Dr. W. F. Gates, forty-fifth session.
1851
1852
1853
1854
Members of the Assembly, Eighth District (1851-1923)
J. AY. McCorkle, second session.
A. G. Caldwell, third session.
A. G. McCandless, fourth session.
E. O. F. Hastings, fifth session.
1855 and 1856: R. B. Sherrard, sixth and seventh sessions.
1857: S. R. AYarrington, eighth session.
1858: James O. Harris, ninth session.
1859: C. L. N. Vaughn, tenth session.
1860: J. L. Smith, eleventh session.
1861 : Zach Montgomery, twelfth session.
1862: C. E. AA'ilcoxon, thirteenth session.
1863 : C. S. Haswell, fourteenth session.
1863 (December): M. Bouleware, fifteenth session.
1865 (December): F. Hamlin, sixteenth session.
1867 (December) : B. R. Spilman, seventeenth session.
1869 and 1871 : C. P. Berry, eighteenth and nineteenth sessions.
1873 : A. L. Chandler, twentieth session.
1875 and 1877: C. P. Berry, twenty-first and twenty-second sessions.
1880 (January) and 1881 : A. L. Chandler, twenty-third and twenty-fourth
sessions.
1883
1885
1887
1889
1891
1893
Stephen R. Fortna, twenty-fifth session.
AYilliam H. Parks, twenty-sixth session.
George Ohleyer, twenty-seventh session.
Daniel A. Ostrom, twenty-eighth session.
H. P. Stabler, twenty-ninth session.
D. P. Durst, thirtieth session.
1895 and 1897: AVilliam M. Cutter, thirty-first and thirty-second sessions.
1899
1901
1903
1905
C. B. Raub, thirty-third session.
L. E. Schillig, thirty-fourth session.
Alexander C. McLaughlin, thirty-fifth session.
E. T. Manwell, thirtv-sixth session.
1907-1911: A. H. Hewitt, thirty-seventh to thirty-ninth session.
1913: J. A. Murray, fortieth session.
1915: L. N. Tabler, forty-first session.
1917: Louis Tarke, forty-second session.
1919 and 1921 : Ed. Lewis, forty-third and forty-fourth sessions.
1923 : Fred B. Noyes, forty-fifth session.
Those who have served Sutter County in other capacities, official or
professional, during its history are :
District, County and Superior Court Judges
District Judges : AYilliam R. Turner, Gordon N. Mott. AYilliam T. Bar-
bour, S. M. Bliss, I. S. Belcher, and Phil W. Keyser.
County Judges: Gordon N. Mott, T. B. Reardon, R. B. Sherrard. B. T.
Hurlburt, AY. P. AY. McCall, Phil AY. Keyser, and J. H. Craddock.
Superior Court Judges: Phil AY. Keyser, E. A. Davis, and Kirby S.
Mahon.
266 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY -
District Attorneys
W. Fisher. R. S. Messick, S. B. Smith, James Algeo, John S. Reardon,
George May, William C. Stoddard, W. P. W. McCall, R. W. McDaniels, Zach
Montgomery, W. P. Wilkins, I. C. McQuaid, J. L. Wilbur, N. G. Wvatt,
S. J. Stabler, Frank B. Crane, J. H. Ray, M. C. Barney, M. E. Sanborn,
K. S. Mahon, A. C. McLaughlin, Lawrence Schillig, and Arthur Coats.
Sheriffs, Coroners, and Public Administrators
Sheriffs : John Pole, Joseph Hopkins, M. F. Garr, S. E. Kennard, D. D.
Stewart, J. A. Friend, T. B. Clark. T. Cooper, Sam McClure, W. P. Harkey,
S. C. Deaner, Thomas L. Smith. J. K. P. Elwell, N. S. Wilson, F. B. Noyes,
and B. B. Manford.
Coroners: David Abdill. G. B. Upham, D. H. Redfield, O. C. Tinney
G. W. Durkee, James Hart, A. Bronson, T. A. Stoddard, E. B. Smith, T. J
Dunham, Charles A. Keyser, A. S. Long, E. Kellogg, Jonas Spect, R. V. S
Ouiglev. P. E. Drescher, H. F. Schulte, W. C. Smith, W. Woodworth, H
Bolton, A. H. Mitchell, Thomas Brophy, W. L. Short, Thomas Fox, W. J
Murphy, and P. W. Rowe.
Public Administrators : J. B. Lucas, A. S. Brown, E. Wilbur, A. Bron-
son, Jackson Williamson, B. J. Nordyke, and Charles A. Keyser. The office
of public administrator is now joined with that of coroner.
Members of the Board of Supervisors
Between the years 1855 and 1923 the following occupied seats on the
board of supervisors, representing the several districts : David Abdill, Madi-
son Bouleware, A. D. Davis, Samuel S. Stewart, C. L. N. Vaughn, Charles
Justis, M. Jones, J. R. Dickey, W. H. Parks, M. F. Garr, D. O. Mahoney,
John Matthews, Milton Ford, George W. Smith, Sumner Paine, J. H.
Esselstyne, L. D. Hedge, E. B. Crouch, T. W. Gaither, C. P. Berry, J. W.
Welsh, G. E. Brittan, W. H. Perdue, A. B. Van Arsdale, Eli Davis, George
Ohleyer, T. J. Leary, T. Brophy. P. L. Bunce, I. N. Brock, G. W. Bailev,
T. S. Metteer, S. R. Fortna, J. K. Wood, L. P. Farmer, Lifous Striplin, W. P.
Smith, W. E. Humphrey, W. T. Spillman, W. H. Smith, L. Summy, John
Burns, W. F. Hoke, L. D. Nash, T. E. Orr, Jacob Weis, W. P. Nelson, E. J.
White, J. P. Glenn, Frank H. Graves, F. J. Michel, J. C. Albertson, Ernest T.
O'Banion, W. J. Gray, A. E. Schellinger, Samuel Gray, G. H. Trevathan, John
D. Heiken, John C. Ahlf and E. E. Reeves.
County Assessors and County Treasurers
County Assessors : William H. Monroe, Jonathan Williams, James M.
Noble, George Scholifield, Augustus Moore, G. W. Durkee, D. H. Apperson.
Richard Saye, D. E. Hamblen, T. B. Lowe, S. M. Clay, R. A. Clark, J. A.
Friend, P. B. Chamberlain, H. Tillitson, J. H. McPhetridge, M. C. Hunger-
ford, A. E. Clary, W. F. Peck, A. A. McRae, and Charles E. McQuaid.
County Treasurers: Willard Post, W. S. Messick, George B. Upham,
T. R. Dickey, F. H. Russell, Francis Walker, John B. Harris, Henry O.
McArthur, G. W. Durkee, C. C. McClure, Thomas D. Boyd, R. Dinsmore,
C. E. Wilcoxon, Jonas Marcuse, George W. Carpenter, A. B. Van Arsdale,
Leroy J. Cope, C. D. O'Banion, and Fred H. Heiken.
County Clerks and County Auditors and Recorders
County Clerks (ex-officio Auditors and Recorders) : T. B. Reardon, G.
W. Lawrence, J. S. Reardon, G. W. Lee, C. E. Wilcoxon, S. J. Stabler, S. S.
Russell, J. M. Thomas and A. H. Hewitt.
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 267
Count}' Clerks (when separated from auditor and recorder's office) :
C. R. Wilcoxon, D. D. Green, Alvin Weis, and Albert B. Brown.
Auditors and Recorders (when separated from county clerk's office) :
A. S. McPhetridge, E. C. McPhetridge, S. J. Flanery, W. R. Carpenter,
and H. C. Flanery.
Other County Officials
Superintendents of Schools : David O. Malonev, C. E. Wilcoxon, James
Hart, A. S. Long-, T. L. Smith, S. S. Russell, T- E. Stevens, N. Furlong,
E. B. Dtimvell, J. H. Clark, Moody C. Clark, O. F. Graves, G. B. Lyman.
C. G. Kline, C. W. Ward, L. L. Freeman, Hobart W. Heiken, Lizzie Vagedes,
and Minnie M. Gray.
County Surveyors : S. W. Higgins, W. F. Nelson, Phil E. Drescher,
T. W. Gaither, T. T- Pennington, George W. Smith, W. F. Peck, J. G.
McMillan, T. Hamlin, Charles W. Guptill, Guy McMurtry, W. B. Ellington,
L. M. Bunce, Edward Von Geldern, and William Shearer.
Professional Men
Yuba City Barristers : Early-day lawyers in Yuba City, practicing in
Yuba County courts as well as on the Sutter side of the river, were : S. J.
Stabler, J. L. Wilbur, J. H. Ray, M. C. Barney, and Richard Bayne. Later-
day lawyers of Yuba City were: M. E. Sanborn, K. S. Mahon, Lawrence
Schillig, A. H. Hewitt, Arthur Coats, and A. C. McLaughlin.
Physicians : Early-day physicians practicing in Sutter County were :
Drs. N. S. Hamlin, Thomas Dobbins, James G. Cannon, T. H. Ferguson, C. P.
Devore, A. Fouch, J. R. Metlock, S. R. Chandler, William Banta, G. B.
Lyman, Z. T. Magill, and John H. Wesscher.
. Later-day physicians of Sutter County are : Drs. T. P. Perry, D. M.
Addington, J. H. Barr, Smith McMullin, J. H. MacFadyen, E. V. Jacobs, and
Sidney G. Goyette. Dr. Jacobs practices at Meridian, Dr. Goyette in Nico-
laus, and Dr. Addington in Sutter City. The others have their offices in
Yuba City.
268 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
CHAPTER X
YUBA CITY
THE CITY IN EARLY DAYS
The land on which the original town of Yuba City was laid out was
deeded by Capt. John A. Sutter. July 27, 1819, to Samuel Brannan, Pierson
B. Redding, and Henry Cheever. This tract extended from opposite the
mouth of Yuba River four miles down the stream, and was one mile in
width. These gentlemen employed Joseph S. Ruth to survey the future
citv. lav it out in lots, and make the map displaying streets, lots, blocks,
public squares, etc.. measures usually adopted by the proprietors of the
multitude of prospective cities in those days. By September 16, 1849, every-
thing was complete : and Pierson B. Redding was appointed agent for the
sale of lots. At this time the city of Marysville had not been laid out.
and the little settlement there was known as Nye's Ranch.
An early historian, referring to this stage in Yuba City's growth, says :
"It was a generally conceded fact that a town laid out at the head of
low-water navigation, at its nearest approach to the now rapidly developing
mining region, would receive most of the vast trade of that section and be-
come a city of great wealth, population and influence. The banks of Feather
River at this point were high and well adapted for the purposes of a
vessel-landing. Although no vessels had as yet stemmed the current farther
than the ferry-landing at the little settlement of Nicolaus Allgeier. still it
was evident that any vessel able to reach Nicolaus could also go to Yuba
City. The land was higher there than at Nye's Ranch, and the proprietors
also thought that this would largely- determine the location of the future
city. So thought man}- others who bought lots by the dozen on speculation."
The first store in Yuba City was opened in August, 1849, by Tallman
H. Rolfe and Henry Cheever. Two advertisements by these enterprising
men appeared in the Sacramento Placer Times on August 25, 1849. They
read as follows : "Rolfe & Cheever, wholesale and retail dealers, Yuba City,
corner of Water and B Streets." "Notice to Miners. Rolfe & Cheever, hav-
ing established a store at Yuba City, will keep constantly on hand a large
and general assortment of dry goods, groceries, provisions, etc., which will
be sold low for cash or gold dust."
Rivalry between Yuba City and Marysville
But few locations were made that fall, but early in the spring of 1850
a great many tents were clustered on the river bank — some used for stores,
some for saloons and gambling houses, and still others for residence pur-
poses. • George M. Hanson bought lots in the new city in the spring of 1850,
and established the first ferry across the river. This spring there was great
rivalry between Yuba City and Nye's Ranch, across the river, which had
been laid out in lots in January and named Marysville. The proprietors of
Marysville were the more enterprising; and when the steamer Lawrence
made her appearance in January, they persuaded the officers of the craft to
make Marysville the terminus of the route. This was the first great victory
gained by Marysville, and it was a deciding one ; for, of course, travelers
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 271
bound for the mines -would disembark at the terminus of the route, in pref-
erence to any other point. There were, however, many who came across
the country by way of Knight's Landing. These, arriving at Yuba City and
finding a settlement there, and being assured by the proprietors that this
was the site of the future city, and that Marysville would not, and could
not, "amount to a row of pins." were easily induced to pitch their tents here.
Some bought lots and went into business ; while others, after remaining a
few days, struck their tents and went over to Marysville. Notwithstanding
that Yuba City was on higher ground, and for several reasons had a better
location for a city than her rival, yet she labored under a great disadvantage.
a disadvantage her proprietors did not seem sufficiently to consider. She
was on the wrong side of the river. The expense, difficulty and trouble met
in crossing the river proved to be a serious drawback to the trade of the
town ; for the traders from the mines would not take the trouble to cross over
so long as they could procure their goods in Marysville at reasonable rates.
In spite of this obstacle, however, the town steadily advanced; the business
men and the owners of lots still had confidence in a prosperous future, and
made every effort to further their interests.
A correspondent of the Placer Times of Sacramento, in giving an ac-
count of a trip made up Feather River, in April, 1850, says of Yuba City :
"Yuba City is rapidly increasing. Several new stores have gone up
within two weeks, and are already well stocked, and are enjoying an active
trade. A meeting was held on Wednesday evening, to establish a ferry below
the mouth of the YTtba, and to open a good communication through to the
road that leads out to the lower diggings on the river ; all the shares were
immediately taken up, and the money paid in. They opened a handsome
bowling saloon there on the same evening."
This scheme of easy and sufficient communication with the Yuba River
mines was just the thing that the city needed to maintain her trade against
the encroachments being made on it by the merchants of Marysville ; and
had it been successfully carried through, Yuba City might have been the
successful competitor for the mercantile prize. The difficulties in the way,
however, seem to have prevented the completion of the enterprise, and the
last hope of the young city was abandoned.
In the spring, Harvey Fairchild was elected alcalde of Yuba City. He
discharged the duties of that office until the courts were organized in June.
Some of the principal owners of land in Yuba City in the spring of 1850,
in addition to the original proprietors, were : Henry A. Schoolcraft, George
Pierson, Tallman H. Rolfe, W. S. Messick, Richard N. Allen, Jonas Win-
chester, Gordon N. Mott, George M. Hanson, Harvey Fairchild, Emil V.
Sutter, and W. S. Webb.
Early in 1850, the citizens and merchants of Yuba City being now con-
vinced that Marysville was destined to be the city, there was a great stampede
to that place, and Yuba City was nearly deserted. A few remained, how-
ever, detained by their property interests and by the hope that the future
had something better in store. These formed a nucleus about which others
gathered, and in a year or two the town had again made a little advance-
ment. The Sutter Banner, under the head of "Reminiscences and Prophecy,"
in its issue of September 17, 1870, has the following:
"About the year of our Lord 1849 and 1850, Yuba City and Marysville
were rival embryo towns, each striving for the supremacy and trade of the
interior mining camps. At this period, the former town had the advantage,
if any there was, excelling its neighbor at Nye's Ranch in trade, popula-
tion, number of dwellings, beauty of location and scenery, etc. But the
tide of fortune, which was not seized by its denizens at the flood, soon
272 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY.
turned in favor of Marysville, and the glory departed, for the time being,
from the flourishing young city located at the former capital of the ancient
and lordly Yubas. A large number of its inhabitants left; many of its build-
ings were removed to the neighboring town ; gone, but not forever, were its
beauty and its strength. Like a young Samson shorn of his waving locks,
there was a recuperative power left."
At this time, the late John R. Ridge, the rightful chief of the Cherokees,
the delightful poet, the accomplished writer and the genial companion, who
had been a resident of Yuba City, removed to Marysville, and on the 29th
day of April, 1851, published, in the Marysville Herald the following address
to, or lament over, the nearly deserted city of his admiration. From his
own manuscript the poem is printed, running as follows:
YUBA CITY DEDICATE
(By Yellow Bird)
"The Yuba City silent stands
Where Providence has placed her,
The glory passed to other hands.
That should by right have graced her.
"She stands with aspect sad but high.
And gazes on the river
That like a stranger passes by
And nothing has to give her.
"Alas, that beauty thus should fade
Or live so unregarded,
And all the efforts art has made
Pass fruitless, unrewarded !
"Are not her groves most fair to see,
Her paths most greenly skirted ?
What has she said, or done, to be
Thus doomed and thus deserted?
"Though melancholy her decline,
By mem'ries sweet 'tis haunted ;
And living tones and forms divine
Still make her scenes enchanted.
"There love domestic reigned supreme,
In deep and holy beauty,
And like the smiles of Angels seem
Parental, filial duty.
"Her aged ones are good and mild,
Her children fair and witty,
But ""Caroline's the fairest child
That charms the lonelv city.
*The allusion here was to Miss Caroline Fairchild, daughter of Capt. Harvey
Fairchild; she was subsequently married to George Pierson, w-ho later removed to
Oakland.
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 273
"I've seen her at the morning' prime —
The sky looked sweeter, bluer ;
I've seen her at the evening time —
The stars seemed bending to her!
"Oh, Yuba City, 'tis a sin
Thou art lonely and forsaken,
AVhen uglier cities favor win
And prosperous paths have taken. ,
"Who seek for loveliness will meet
The picture where they find thee —
The Feather River at thy feet.
The lofty Buttes behind thee ;
"And the) r will bless the quiet scene,
That holds thee like a jewel,
And weep that thou'st abandoned been
To fortunes cold and cruel,
"But, Yuba City, time will cast
The changes in thy favor ;
Then, in redemption of the past,
Thou'lt stand, whilst others waver."
It will be observed, by the last stanza, that the poet had a prophetic
vision that Yuba City would ultimately recuperate — a prophecy the fulfill-
ment of which has already commenced.
Reminiscences of 1850
Reminiscences of Yuba City's life in 1850 are found in a story published
in the Marysville Democrat of April, 1899, from the pen of William Arm-
strong, then a resident of Biggs, in Butte County. Armstrong related how
the promoters of Yuba City, in 1850, were offering to give two lots to set-
tlers who would agree to build on one of them. He accepted the offer and at
once started to construct a home, the lots being located opposite the present
courthouse. At that time lumber was selling at $500 per thousand feet.
While his house was principally of oak shakes, it cost him $1000. Furniture
was a luxury that few indulged in, most people then being satisfied, with a
board for a table, and a seat and a bed made from the cheapest of lumber.
A man was taken sick soon after Armstrong's house was finished, and his
friends asked Armstrong to take him in, as there was no other place to which
he could go. He agreed, and the friends bought a board from which to make
a bed for the patient. This board cost $12, and the friends paid $21 a week
for the sick man's room.
At that time there was a camp of Indians just below Yuba City, a real
"campoodie." Early that season a small river steamer came up to the junction
of the Yuba and Feather Rivers. The captain was for a while undecided
as to which town, Marysville or Yuba City, he would choose for a landing,
but finally tied up at Yuba City. The Indians had never seen a steamer
and were very shy of it. When the whistle sounded, they ran for their
campoodie, and did not return.
Armstrong and his wife attended a ball that season, given in the Covil-
laud Hotel in Marysville, a two-story structure on the plaza. All the women
in the town were induced to attend ; and when they were counted they
274 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
numbered seven — one short of making up two dancing sets. This deficiency
was supplied by dressing a slim young man in female apparel. He filled
the requirement so satisfactorily that the miners believed him a new-comer
to the camp. This young fellow was John Brazier. His experience made
him quite popular; and when his identity became known to the miners,
he was in demand for all dancing parties. Ball tickets for this first affair
at the Covillaud Hotel sold for $16. and all considered that they got a good
time for their money. Armstrong said he could remember the names of
three of the women at that dance — Mrs. Mary Covillaud, Mrs. Caroline Fair-
child, and Miss Marion Fairchild, all now passed to the Beyond.
Early Development
In 1852 Yuba City had one hotel, the Western House, one small grocery
store, two saloons, one blacksmith shop, one justice of the peace's office,
the post-office, fifteen or twenty dwelling-houses, and a population of about
150. In the spring of 1853, A. S. Brown opened the Elk Horn House, across
the street from the Western House. He kept no liquor in his establishment,
an unusual thing in those days.
The first school in Yuba City was one taught three months in the spring
of 1854, the teacher being C. E. Wilcoxon, who later became the head of a
large and respected family, and a member of the State Board of Equaliza-
tion and the county board of supervisors. The first schools in the county
had been opened some time before this, and were located at Kempton, on the
Walker ranch, and at Nicolaus.
The city was soon connected with Marysville by bridges. Later the
Marysville Water Company and the Marysville Coal & Gas Company laid
pipes to Yuba City, through which water and gas were conducted for many
years. Yuba City now has its municipally owned water-works, with a record
for such public institutions not excelled in any part of the State, for a place
of the same size.
The north part of Yuba City, known as "Hudson's Addition" for many
years, was surveyed and laid out in -1869 by E. L. Wright. The tract had
been bought from Gillespie, Messick and McDougal for $1600, by W. S.
Webb, on May 24, 1855.
Incorporation of the City
In 1877, the business men and property-holders of the place began to
agitate the question of incorporation. Some protection against fire was
desirable as a precautionary measure, and also certain improvements of a
public character in the city were thought desirable ; and the only way to
secure these properly was to incorporate the city, and have a legal govern-
ment that could pass and enforce the necessary ordinances, being clothed
with the requisite power to levy and collect the taxes necessary to accom-
plish the desired end. A bill to incorporate the city was presented to the
legislature, was passed, and received the approval of the Governor, March
30, 1878. By this act the town of Yuba City was incorporated with the
following boundaries :
Beginning on the right bank of Feather River at the intersection of the
same by the south side of Oak Street, according to the map of the Hudson's
tract, part of Yuba City, Sutter County, California ; thence along the south
side of said street to the east side of Sonoma Street of said Hudson's tract;
thence along the east side of Sonoma Street southerly to the north side of
A Street, according to the map of Joseph Ruth of the original survey of
Yuba City ; thence along the north side of A Street forty feet, more or less,
to a point in range with the west side of Fourth Street, according to said
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 275
original map of Yuba City ; thence across A Street and along the westerly-
side of Fourth Street to the southerly side of G Street, according to the
last mentioned map of Yuba City ; thence easterly along the southerly side of
G Street to the right bank of Feather River ; thence up said right bank of
Feather River to the place of beginning.
The act provided for a board of three trustees, to be elected annually
on the first Saturday in May, and whose term should begin the second Mon-
day after election. They were to meet within ten days after election and
choose a president and clerk from among their number. They were also to
appoint a city marshal, and were given the power to levy a tax not exceeding
one-half of one per cent, and a poll tax of one dollar, but were not allowed
to create any debt beyond the amount of funds in their hands. An assessor
and ex-ofncio collector was to be elected at the same time as the trustees.
Under the provisions of this act, the board of supervisors called an election
for Ma\' 25, 1878, to fill the offices mentioned in the act.
The election was duly held, ninety-three votes being cast. By choice
of the voters, W. F. Peck, S. J. Stabler, and J. B. Stafford were made trus-
tees, and A. E. Clary was elected assessor. The trustees met, and after con-
siderable discussion it was decided that the rate of tax allowed by the charter
would not raise money enough to conduct the city government and defray
the expenses of the fire department and the other desired improvements.
Therefore it was decided to disband, and not attempt to organize the board.
A committee of interested citizens was appointed, and an attempt made to
raise by subscription a sum sufficient to purchase the necessary fire apparatus
for the protection of the city. This was likewise a failure, and consequently
the whole effort was abandoned. The city was reincorporated in 1908.
YUBA CITY TODAY
Yuba City of today is faithfully portrayed in an article prepared by the
Sutter County Chamber of Commerce and the community-development divi-
sion of a San Francisco magazine. This article reads, in part, as follows :
"Yuba City, the county seat of Sutter, is the largest town in the county
and is incorporated. It is beautifully situated on the bank of the Feather
River, and is a city of comfortable homes, with large gardens and wide
streets shaded with orange, magnolia, olive, hawthorn, palm and walnut trees.
On one of Yuba City's main streets may be seen the largest walnut tree in
the world, which overlooks the surrounding buildings, with its topmost
branches over 100 feet from the ground. The circumference of the trunk,
four feet from the ground, is fifteen feet and four inches, and the greatest
spread of branches measures 108 feet. This wonderful tree stands as an
enduring and living monument to the productivity of Sutter County's soil.
"Yuba City is a modern, progressive and flourishing city, nestled in the
heart of one of California's richest fruit districts. There are a national and
savings bank, hotel, flour mill, lumber yard, two newspapers, municipal
water-works, churches, excellent school buildings, and the usual business
institutions required to serve a community of its size. Both the Sacramento
Northern, an electric railway, and the Southern Pacific have depots here,
and these two railroads render a splendid transportation service. One large
fruit-canning factory and two dried-fruit packing houses give employment
almost the whole year round to several hundred men, women and chil-
dren, many of whom make wages that compare favorably with those of
the skilled mechanic."
Municipal Water-Works
Yuba City has good reason to be proud of its municipally owned water
plant. Built in 1908-1909 at a cost of $30,000, it now feed's six miles of
276 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
mains and has 655 patrons, the latter having doubled in the last three years
New families are being added at the rate of sixteen a month, which, accord-
ing to City Clerk and Collector Claude C. Kline, means an addition to the
population of Yuba City, which is now in the midst, of a healthy boom, of
at least 1600 a year. The plant has three deep wells, one sunk to the depth
of 80 feet, another to 120 feet, and the other to a depth of 285 feet.
The plant at present is paying six per cent on an investment of $47,000;
pays all costs of maintenance, and a five-per-cent depreciation ; and retires
$2000 of bonds each year. Besides this, it pays the interest on outstanding
bonds, and would pay the tax, if a private corporation. Considering all this,
it showed a net profit of $216 in 1922. In the last seven years, the plant
has loaned the general fund of the town the sum of $20,000, which means
a lowering each year of the municipal tax rate. The officials challenge
any city of its size in the State to produce a better record for a municipally
owned water-supply plant.
Before the city erected its own plant, water was supplied from a private
plant owned by the late C. B. Andross.
Street-paving and Zoning
Yuba City also lays claim to ranking first, for a place of its size, in
the matter of street-paving. Few streets are now left to be paved. At the
present time Yuba City has invested in street-paving work a sum represent-
ing $151 per capita. The trustees at present serving aim to complete every
street during their term of office. Several streets with "dead ends" are also
to be opened up, and thus be changed into thoroughfares.
The trustees also are planning on a zoning ordinance, necessitated by
the rapid growth of the business and residence sections. Under that ordi-
nance a building inspector will be employed, who will see to it that a permit
is secured before a building is started.
Memorial Park ',
Yuba City Memorial Park was 'dedicated on Decoration Day, May 30,
1922, as a tribute to the memory of the Sutter County soldiers and sailors
who perished in the World War. Yuba-Sutter Post of the American Legion
and the survivors of Corinth Post, No. 80, Grand Army of the Republic, ar-
ranged the ceremonies, which were attended by a great throng. Hon. Peter
J. Shields, of the Sacramento County bar, was the orator.
A tree grows in the park for each youth who made the supreme sacrifice.
The names of all the heroes are engraved upon a bronze tablet that occupies
a conspicuous place in the park. Paths wind through the green lawns at
the head of Bridge Street. At the rear of the park a stairway, wrought of
stone and concrete, leads to the top of the Feather River levee. Handsome
electroliers in front of the park give illumination by night.
The idea of a memorial park in Yuba City was conceived by Dr. and
Mrs. J. H. Barr and C. C. Kline. An appropriation from the board of super-
visors of Sutter County made its establishment possible. The grounds were
laid out and planned by Dr. and Mrs. Barr, City Surveyor Edward Von
Geldern, and H. H. Wolfskill.
Masonic Lodge
Sutter County is distinctive in Masonic circles as being one of a few
counties in the State of California having but one Masonic Lodge. This
lodge has now been in existence for sixty-eight years. Its name and number
are Enterprise Lodge, No. 70.
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 277
Organized under dispensation on January 13, 1855, and granted its
charter on May 4 of the same year. Enterprise Lodge celebrated its Golden
Jubilee Friday evening, January 13, 1905. The souvenirs presented the
members on that occasion show the charter members to have been D. H.
Apperson, M. Bassett, J. A. Brown, E. Burson, A. F. T. Calley, S. Z. Cross,
A. B. Davis, J. P. Dillon, J. M. Fronk. J. W. Gaither, D. B. Goode. G. M.
Hanson, A. S. Hightower, A. G. Jones, [. B. Kvler, C. C. McClure, T. Nichols,
D. G. O'Donnell, I. Ramsey, L. W. Taylor, C.L. N. Vaughn, G. W. Watson,
and C. E. Wileoxon. Not one of these charter members is alive today.
The first officers of the lodge were: C. E. Wileoxon, W. M. ; C. E. N.
Vaughn, S. W. ; D. H. Apperson, J. W. ; C. C. McClure, treasurer; G. M.
Hanson, secretary; D. G. O'Donnell, S. D. ; J. W. Gaither, J. D. ; and J. M.
Fronk, tyler.
The first meeting place of Enterprise Lodge was in the upper story of
a schoolhouse on C Street, which building long ago was razed to make place
for a residence. During the sixties, the lodge rooms were moved to the
upper story of the building still standing at Second and Bridge Streets. The
lodge owning one-half the lot. the members entered into agreement with C. E.
Wileoxon and T. D. Boyd, who owned the other half, to construct the two-
story brick building, with the understanding that the Masons should maintain
the upper story and keep the roof over all. Here the lodge made its home
until 1908, when the present Masonic Temple on Second Street was erected,
at a cost of $35,000.
Fire caused the members to plan on a new temple. That was in 1907,
when Yuba City was visited by a disastrous conflagration that razed its
only hotel and partially destroyed the old hall.
The oldest Past Master of Enterprise Lodge is M. E. Sanborn, now a
retired attorney living in San Francisco. Irwin Griffith, former resident
of Sutter City, now living at a distance, is the only member of the local
organization who has attained the thirty-second degree in Masonry.
Odd Fellows Lodge
Yuba City Lodge, No. 185, I. O. O. F., received its charter in January,
1871. This charter was granted to the following: Stephen R. Fortna, P.
G. ; Moody C. Clark H. J. Schults, D. E. Hamblin, W. R. Ink, Joseph Hardy,
Thomas Brophy, John T. Ogden, L. Battler, J. Silverstein, Calvin Spillman,
J. H. Gillenwater, and C. A. Glidden. The lodge met for many years in the
upper story of the building at Second and Bridge Streets, renting from the
Masons. In 1888 a two-story building was erected on the present site. In
1907 this structure was razed by fire, compelling the members to hold their
meetings temporarily in the Odd Fellows Hall in Marysville. The present
two-story structure was built and dedicated in 1908.
Progress has marked every year of the life of this lodge since its found-
ing. At the present time there are thirty-nine Past Grands and ninety-one
third-degree members in the lodge. The present officers are : Noble Grand,
F. B. Hager; Vice-Grand, H. E. Cox; secretary, H. L. Hite ; treasurer, E. J.
White ; Junior Past Grand, H. H. Herr ; and chaplain, George W. Littlejohn.
The older records of the lodge were destroyed in the fire of October, 1907.
Other Yuba City Lodges
Yuba City also supports active' branches of the order of the Knights of
Pythias and the Woodmen of the World. Shamrock Camp, Woodmen of
the World, owns its own hall, and is considering the erection of a more
modern structure on a new site.
278 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
Resident Veterans of Corinth Post, No. 80, G. A. R.
Yuba City is the home of five honored survivors of the Civil War, the
remnant of Corinth Post, No. 80, Grand Army of the Republic, which
for many years was among; the leading organizations of Marysville and fore-
most in the celebration of Independence Day and in the program of exercises
on Memorial Day each year.
These veterans are: W. E. Tucker, justice of the peace of Yuba Town-
ship, and W. C. Gibson. J. Ashley, Isaac Drake and J. Larrabee.
CHAPTER XI
OTHER TOWNS OF THE COUNTY
While Yuba City is showing unprecedented growth, other places in
the county — some new, and some of nearly the same age as Yuba City-
are keeping pace with its development. All are farming communities,
dotted with modern homes and peopled by energetic, prosperous citizens,
whose enterprising spirit gives promise of a great future.
LIVE OAK
This rapidly growing town lies in the extreme northern end of the
county, in a locality that is noted for its alfalfa, dairying and fruit interests.
Irrigation has transformed this community. Several subdivisions, including
the Sunset and Live Oak colonies, and all supplied with water from the
Sutter-Butte Canal, have combined to make this a thickly settled com-
munity. There is almost no limit to the crops now grown within a dozen
miles of Live Oak. To the west, rice is a recent addition to the many
products of the unusually fertile and productive soil. AVith many thousand
acres under irrigation, the town of Live Oak is fast assuming larger pro-
portions, and is becoming a trade center of considerable importance.
Alfalfa is the leading agricultural product, although almonds, prunes,
peaches and grapes are being grown more extensively every year. After
the first year, the average yield of alfalfa is five, and frequently six, crops,
running from seven to ten tons per acre each year.
Public Schools
Because of increasing population, Live Oak has recently been compelled
to add to its educational facilities a new grammar-school building, which is
an ornament to the place. There is also a new high-school building, making
the third high school in the county.
NICOLAUS
Nicolaus, on the west bank of the Feather River, is now regarded as the
shipping and commercial center for the southern part of Sutter County, that
part which lies south of the Feather River and east of the Sacramento.' Here
the raising of hops and alfalfa, and the care and development of prune and
pear orchards, together with dairying, are now the leading industries. Some
of the largest and finest dairy herds to be found anywhere are to be seen on
the .rich bottom-lands that extend back from the rivers. Grain- and stock-
raising are also important enterprises., yielding large returns.
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 279
Judge Keyser's Reminiscences
In a speech made by the late Judge Phil W. Keyser on the 4th of July,
1876, that popular jurist made reference to early-day occurrences in Nicolaus.
Among other things. Judge Keyser said :
"A surveyor was employed, and early in January, 1850, a beautiful town
(upon paper, like the rest) sprang into existence. Among the proprietors was
Col. Dick Snowden, who was in February elected alcalde of the town, and
who, like his brother judge, Colonel Grant, was fully up to what popular
opinion requires a judicial officer to be, physically. Snowden was a man of
quick and somewhat violent temper; but his natural abilities were above
mediocrity, and he possessed social qualities that secured him many warm
personal friends. His social, judicial and physical functions came very near
receiving a sudden and tragical termination. There lived at that time, at
Nicolaus, a wild, reckless fellow named Bell. He built, and for some time
conducted, a hotel called the Bell House. He was the defendant in a suit in
Alcalde Snowden's court; and while it was progressing, he suddenly came
to the conclusion it was not going very favorably for him. No sooner did
this idea strike him than he drew his six-shooter and blazed away at the pre-
siding judge. The ball hit Snowden on the forehead but glanced off without
doing him serious injury. This argument was so direct and convincing that
judgment was immediately ordered for the defendant.
"Another prominent character of Nicolaus was George C. Johnson. He
came to the town in a full-rigged barque belonging to the government of the
United States. The vessel had come around the Horn with government stores
for United States troops. Johnson was commissary, and after discharging
part of her cargo at Benicia, which was the principal military post at that
time on this Coast, and a self-asserted rival of San Francisco, he brought the
vessel to Nicolaus to deliver the balance of her supplies to the officers and
men stationed at Camp Far West. This was a small military post established
by the United States on Bear River, some ten or fifteen miles above Nicolaus,
for the protection of the immigrants from any unfriendliness on the part of
the Indians, who were numerous in that section in those days. The barque
never again saw salt water, but she gave to Nicolaus the right to boast of
being the only port of entry that has ever been established north of Sacra-
mento — the only town north of that city that ever has had a full-rigged sea-
going vessel lying at her landing. Johnson built quite an imposing block of
frame houses almost opposite the site of the American Hotel, in one of which
he carried on a lively produce and general merchandise business. He accu-
mulated quite a fortune, with which he went to San Francisco, where he
established a large iron foundry, or something of that sort. He was after-
wards appointed consul for Norway and Sweden, of one of which countries he
was a native. He died leaving an estate valued at over a million."
First Christmas in California
In the same address Judge Keyser outlined the history of Camp Far West,
now marked by the Native Sons of the Golden West as a historic spot of
California. He said :
"I have mentioned Camp Far West. It was quite an important military
post in those days. Pleasantly situated on the bank of Bear River, amid an
undulating country that forms the base of the foo-hills, and which at that time
was covered with tall pines and wide-spreading live oaks, the camp was an
easy and delightful drive in the springtime from Nicolaus, while its accom-
plished officers were the most agreeable and hospitable of hosts to the many
visitors, to whom they always extended a hearty welcome. Captain (now, I
280 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
believe, Brigadier-General) Day was the commander of the post. My ac-
quaintance with him and his brother officers began before Nicolaus was 'in
esse.' How well I remember the day! Charlie Fairfax (whom all Californians
knew and loved). Uncle Dick Snowden, as we called him (he was Fairfax's
uncle and the alcalde of whom I have spoken), a brother of mine and myself
were on our way, in December, 1849, with provisions for the winter, to our
log" cabin, which stood not far from Nevada and Grass Valley. We built it in
October, 1849. We were packing our provisions on mules, but were delayed
several days by high water. About Christmas, Bear River became crossable,
and we loaded our pack train, saddled our riding animals, and started. Camp
Far West was in existence at this time, and the officers had been invited to
partake of a Christmas dinner by Charlie Hoyt, at Johnson's Ranch, which
was the name of a large tract of land lying upon the northwest bank of Bear
River and owned, or occupied, by Hoyt. There was an adobe house upon the
land, standing upon a high, natural mound and surrounded by outhouses and
corrals. Hoyt knew some of our party and invited us to join his military
friends at the Christmas dinner. Of course we were not the boys to decline
what we had every reason to believe would be a 'feast of reason and a flow of
soul.' We were all there. Captain Day sat at the head of the table, and
Charlie Hoyt at the foot. Before the former stood a splendid roast pig, while
the remainder of the table was covered with good things. There was but one
kind of wine (port), and a wretched fraud it was upon the name. But it an-
swered the purpose. It stimulated the brain, loosened the tongue, and made
us all eloquent, witty and hilarious. The festivities lasted till the small hours
began to grow into large ones ; but of all the good things that were said, and
the jovial songs that were sung. I remember only this : that, for the last two
hours we were at the table, Day sang without ceasing :
'Christmas comes but once a year,
But when it comes it brings good cheer."
Such was my first Christmas in California."
Churches of the City
For many years Nicolaus has supported a church of the Catholic denom-
ination, the congregation owning their own edifice. For a time the pastor
made stated trips from his home in Lincoln, Placer County ; but more re-
cently the parish was made part of that at North Sacramento. They are
now served by Rev. Father P. Murphy, of the latter place.
The German Lutherans hold frequent services in the schoolhouse.
At Fairview, about four miles distant from Nicolaus, there is a church
edifice in which other denominations hold meetings. The Protestant ceme-
tery fur this district is located at Fairview.
SUTTER CITY
This place is beautifully situated at the base of the Sutter Buttes. Its
wide streets are shaded with palm, locust, pepper, oleander and other shade
trees, which greatly enhance its attractiveness. It is surrounded by orchards,
vineyards, grain fields and almond groves. This district is the second largest
almond-growing section of the county. It was close to this place that the first
Thompson Seedless grapes were developed.
Sutter City has two churches, the Methodist and the Baptist. Each
Sunday the members gather from the countryside to worship.
HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY 281
Sutter City High School
Sutter City has one of the best-equipped high schools in the county.
The plant is known as the Sutter Union High School ; and it was the first
high school established in the history of Sutter County. It is built along
the Mission lines and has three wings. Courts for lawn tennis and croquet
surround the buildings, dotting attractive grounds. At the rear is a manual-
training building, the handiwork of the pupils in that department. Sutter
retained the distinction of having the only high school in the county until
recent years, when Live Oak and Yuba City added high-school plants, in
the order mentioned.
MERIDIAN
Meridian is a thriving town in the western section of the county, and is
situated on the Sacramento River and on the Sacramento Northern Railroad,
giving it advantages many a town of its size might envy. It is an important
shipping- point for a large area of some of the most fertile land to be found
anywhere in California.
Adjacent to Meridian is Reclamation District No. 70. All of the 20,000
acres of this district was formerly overflowed ; but since it has been reclaimed,
it is a veritable garden spot, with thousands of acres of alfalfa, grain, and
corn ; beans, melons, tomatoes, and other vegetables ; and richly productive
orchards of fruit. The lands along the Sacramento River are excellent for
beans; and' beans and alfalfa probably comprise the two most valuable crops
of District No. 70. Sugar beets have also been grown extensively in this
district, where they yield a very high percentage of saccharine.
Meridian has one church, that of the Methodists, which has been in
existence many years, and which has many faithful followers. Quite fre-
quently, also, the community is visited by evangelists of the Pentecostal
faith, and others.
Settlement and Early Grov/th
The Meridian of the early days was relatively, no less important. The
first settler on the river at that point was Lewis O'Neil, who arrived in 1852,
and built a house on the river bank. In 1857, John F. Fonts bought the place,
and in 1860 established a ferry across the river. He also established a small
store. In March, 1861, W. C. Smith purchased ten acres of land lying north
of the road from A. H. Mitchell's place. The tract was covered with brush
and timber at that time. Smith laid out the tract into town lots, and in 1864
sold a corner lot to E. F. Thornbrough & Company, who built a store build-
ing suitable to those days. Mrs. E. V. Jacobs, wife of Meridian's physician,
is a daughter of one of the very earliest settlers in Sutter County.
In 1860 a post-office had been established at the ferry, with John F.
Fouts as postmaster. The name originally chosen for the office was Keokuk ■
but there being then another of the same name in the State, it was changed
to Meridian. This name was selected because the first post-office was only
one-fourth of a mile west of the Mt. Diablo meridian, United States Survey.
In 1873 the Meridian Warehouse Company erected its first building for
the storage of grain. It had a capacity of 1500 tons.
The first school building of notable proportions was erected in 1876 at
a cost of $3500.
PENNINGTON
Lying to the north of the Sutter Buttes, and enjoying a remarkably mild
climate, Pennington is situated in the most important almond-growing sec-
tion of Sutter County. The large and constantly growing number of almond
orchards to be seen here bear mute testimony to the adaptability of this
locality to the profitable culture of this popular nut.
282 HISTORY OF SUTTER COUNTY
PLEASANT GROVE
This town lies on the very southeastern edge of the county, and is the
center of an extensive grain and stock section. Plantings of alfalfa in the vi-
cinity of Pleasant Grove in recent years give promise of dairying on a large
scale in this section in the near future. It is a community of homes, with
a school conveniently located.
OTHER TOWNS
Four prosperous and growing towns are at the present time to be found
along the Southern Pacific Railroad, south of Yuba City. These are Bogue,
Oswald, Tudor, and Chandler. Each of these is in a favorite fruit district
of Sutter County, and is mostly a shipping center for the extensive orchards
and vineyards near by.
Abbott, Marcuse, Sunset and Lomo are other shipping points on the
Southern Pacific, while Tierra Buena, Nuestro, Encinal, Rio Oso, Catlett and
Sankey are similar points on the Sacramento Northern Railroad.
West Butte, as the name implies, is on the west side of Sutter Buttes.
The town is surrounded by first-class grain, dairy and stock country.
Kirksville and Vernon are on the Sacramento River, and are shipping
points for rich areas of river-bottom lands.
YUBA-SUTTER WAR WORK
LEST WE FORGET
No section of these United States can truthfully boast a greater percent-
age of Americanism shown during the World War, from 1914 to 1918, than
was shown in the "twin counties" of Yuba and Sutter. Here the Red Cross,
with all its auxiliaries — Canteen Workers, Surgical Dressings Department,
and all — was firmly entrenched, working through all its avenues, by night as
well as by day. Yuba-Sutter Chapter of the Red Cross had working head-
quarters in the basement of the Packard Library. There, during the period of
the memorable struggle, the women met and sewed and knitted, and packed
service kits for the boys and thousands of cases of garments for use in the
field. In every hamlet of Yuba Count}- there were branch meeting places for
the volunteer workers ; and the same can be said of Sutter County. Both
counties also remembered the refugees of Europe, to the fullest. Sutter
County heads had sewing and packing headquarters in the Masonic Asylum,
where patriotism knew no bounds. One purchasing agent bought the raw
material that was shaped into garments on both sides of the river.
Of the numbers of young men who made the supreme sacrifice during the
unprecedented struggle, Yuba County was the home of twenty-six, Sutter
County the home of ten. These must not be forgotten.
In the work of keeping their respective memories alive, no one is
deserving of greater credit than Mrs. G. AY. Harney, of Marysville, and
Mrs. Hugh Moncur, of Yuba City. Through their efforts the complier
of this history is able to give the story of each hero, the date of his enlist-
ment, his cantonment service, the capacity in which he served on the field
of action, and the engagement in which he fell, and also to present a portrait
of each. Their work once lost, the history of these heroes could never be
full}'- replaced, as the relatives of many whose records are given are now
widely scattered. The accumulation of the data represents much research,
as is evidenced by the wealth of detail presented. In presenting these records
we wish again to accentuate the good work of Mrs. Harney and Mrs. Mon-
cur, whom we heartily thank for permitting their use in this volume. Mrs.
Moncur supplied the biographies of the Sutter County war heroes and also
the photographs from which their cuts were made.
The introduction to these sketches was written by Henry M. Rideout,
well-known American author, and member of a pioneer California family.
"Those wdio gave a soldier to our nation in the war against Germany un-
derstand their gift, with an understanding deeper than words," says Mr.
Rideout. "They know. Therefore to the families, above all the fathers and
mothers, of the men whose memory the following pages would recall, no
preface is intended.
"If a stranger read this book, he will do well to think, more than once,
not of what meets the eye, but of what is lacking. The stories are brief. All
except a few contain beginnings only, promises of character, not deeds re-
warded in this world. But their brevity means the greater honor ; for here
a page of life least written upon may hold (so far as we shall ever know) the
costliest sacrifice of things which might have been. And the sacrifice was
for us. These boys of Yuba and Sutter Counties, California — boys either in
284 YUBA-SUTTER WAR WORK
age or in spirit — left everything, home, a pleasant land, work, hopes, to join a
great company that on our behalf passed through the bitterness of death
Youths have life before them. For the American Republic, at war against
wrong, cruelty, and lies denying the existence of human kindness, they died
that our children might grow up free, like them, to serve and follow truth."
IN MEMORIAM
By Mrs. G. W. Harney
YUBA COUNTY HEROES
Tester A. Bishop
Lester A. Bishop, son of N. B. and Annie Bishop, was born at French
Corral, Nevada County, Cal., December 17, 1899. He received his education
in the public schools and at Notre Dame College, Marysville. From child-
hood he was characterized by a kindly and noble nature, which prompted him,
at the age of eighteen, to fight for his country. He enlisted on April 1, 1917,
in Company I, 30th Infantry of the 128th, American Expeditionary Forces.
He served in France. Wounded on August 10, 1918, he was taken to Base
Hospital No. 34 at Nantes. On October 3, his mother, a resident of Marys-
ville, received a letter from a Red Cross nurse in France, who said his wound
was severe. He died four days later. On November 5, Mrs. Bishop was offi-
cially notified by the War Department of her son's death on October 7.
His coffin covered with flowers and draped with an American flag, Lester
Bishop was laid away in French soil, with military honors, in the cemetery
at Nantes. About a year later, the remains were removed to the Marysville
cemetery. Marysville mourns the loss of a brave soldier, a young, generous,
loyal citizen who will be remembered with pride. He took part in the first
great drive against the Germans, when the Americans captured 2000 prison-
ers in three clays and nights.
Lewis J. Blodget
Lewis J. Blodget, son of Moses H. and Florence Johnson Blodget, was
born in Colusa County, Cal., September 11, 1889. On October 4, 1918, as a
United States Marine, A. E. F., Lewis Blodget gave his life for liberty as the
American forces made a strong thrust into the lines of the Huns, north of
the Somme. The young man was a "Devil Dog," the name the Germans gave
the Marines, from December 8, 1914, until the day he made the "supreme
sacrifice" for democracy. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in Los Angeles,
on the date given, after spending his boyhood days in Yuba and Shasta
Counties, California. His parents for a time resided at Challenge, Yuba
County, later moving to Folsom, at which place news of his death in battle
reached his relatives. Blodget was a graduate of the public schools, and
worked for a time for the Yuba Construction Company in Marysville, which
position he left when he joined the Marines. He was the true-type American.
He gave his life that right might endure. He played his part and is gone. He
did not live, or die, in vain.
Claude Bayne Boswell
Claude Bayne Boswell, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Boswell of Wheatland,
Yuba County, Cal., so desired to serve his country and the world, in their
struggle for universal freedom, that he attempted to enlist with the "Griz-
YUBA-SUTTER WAR WORK 287
zlies" on November 9, 1917. Because of a weak heart, however, he was not
then accepted, although he was found to be available when, on May 20, 1918,
he was drafted into the service and sent to Camp Kearney. It was while he
was in training- at this camp that he contracted bronchial pneumonia, which
resulted in his death on November 5. 1918.
With the Stars and Stripes — emblematical of the loved country to which
he had given his service and his life — draped about his coffin, he was laid to
rest in the Wheatland cemetery on the 8th day of that month, exactly one
year from the date of his first attempt to enroll. He was survived by his
parents, and by seven brothers and four sisters.
Fred T. Bottler
On November 30, 1918. the sad news was received from Camp Kearney
of the death on that day of Fred T. Bottler, Marysville young man and native
of Yuba County, son of Frederick and Katharine Peters Bottler. The young
man was educated in the public schools of Marysville, entering the employ
of the Marysville Water Company shortly after he concluded his studies. He
was with the water company when called to the colors on May 22, 1918. He
spent four months at the Presidio at Monterey, from which point he was
transferred to Camp Kearney.
As a schoolboy, young Bottler showed traits that endeared him to his
companions, being agreeable, kind-hearted, considerate and unselfish. The
same traits appeared in his home life with his sisters and parents. They re-
mained with him to the end. He was fond of youthful sports, and was made
a member of the first Marysville baseball team because of his proficiency. In
his last illness he was especially commended by the army doctors for his
fortitude in battling against the ravages of influenza. Through his death
his employers lost a valuable man ; his associates, a firm friend ; and the city
of Marysville, a good citizen.
James M. Brown
Early in the month of June, 1918, news came to Yuba County of the
death in France of James M. Brown, who, the report said, died of wounds
received in action on the 30th of May. James, or "Jim",'' as he was familiarly
known to his friends, was born in Malone, N. Y., twenty-six years before.
He came to California in April, 1916. and obtained employment in the dredger
fields in Hammonton. He was called to go with the first contingent which
left Marysville for Camp Lewis on September 24, 1917. He was placed in
charge of his comrades as train captain during the journey north.
In a short time }-oung Brown was assigned to the 166th Depot Brigade,
with a machine-gun company. Later he was transferred to Camp Merritt,
New Jersey; and he sailed on December 11 for France. After a week in a
British rest camp, three miles from Cherbourg, his division entrained in the
little French box cars, in which nearly all troops had to be moved, and trav-
elled across France to Montigny-le-Roi. After training behind the lines, the
company moved up to the front and saw action in the Montdidier Salient on
the Picardy battle-front, "where tactics had been suddenly revolutionized to
those of open warfare, and our men, confident of the results of their training,
were eager for the test." (Pershing.)
In a letter of May 7, James reported that he was in good health and had
come safely through two gas attacks; but on June 17 his parents received the
following telegram from Washington : "Deeply regret to inform you that it
is officially reported that private James M. Brown died May 30th, from
288 YUBA-SUTTER AVAR WORK
wounds received in action." James was a perfect specimen of young man-
hood, unassuming but deep and fearless ; and no better or truer lad faced the
enemy in this war.
Charles Fred Cassano
Charles Fred Cassano was born in Camptonville, Yuba County, CaL, De-
cember 31, 1892. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Baptiste Cassano.
There were eight children in the family, six girls and two boys, he being the
fourth child. Charles attended school in Camptonville and lived there until
young manhood. He was subject to the first draft, in June, 1917, and regis-
tered; but in December he went to San Francisco, and on the 13th entered
in the engineer corps. He was at Angel Island about a week ; then his com-
pany was sent to Camp Meade, Maryland, where he received his military
training in Company B, 27th Engineers.
On February 14, 1918, Charles was taken sick with a severe cold, fol-
lowed by measles. He was sent to the base hospital; but his illness resulted in
pneumonia, and on March 7, 1918, he died, being in his twenty-sixth year.
His body was sent back to California, and he was buried at the Presidio, San
Francisco. His friends in his home town of Camptonville loved him, and now
point with pride to his name on this honor list.
Richard Norton Coupe
Richard Norton Coupe, first of Yuba County's soldier heroes to repose in
Yuba soil after seeing active service over seas, was born and raised at Chal-
lenge, Yuba County, Cal. Prior to his entering the army he was a trusted
employe of the Southern Pacific Company for five years, first in Fresno and
later in Oakland. He enlisted at the latter place, August 9, 1917, as an avia-
tion mechanic, and entered the service at Angel Island. After receiving two
months' training at Kelly Field, Texas, he was transferred to the 94th Aero
Squadron, which was scheduled for duty over seas. He sailed from New York
October 21, and on arriving in France was put through a course of instruc-
tion in Paris. Early in the spring of 1918, he went on the lines. Here he was
Major Eufberry's mechanic, only flying in testing the machine. He witnessed
the battle in which Major Lufberry was killed, and helped pick up the wreck.
In July he transferred to the Tank Service, and soon qualified as a gunner
and driver. September 12 he went "over the top" in the battle of St. Mihiel.
During this battle he and his companions surprised thirty Germans and took
them prisoners.
September 26 he went "over the top" again, in the Argonne, and after
several days was taken sick and sent back to the base hospital at Blois. Later
he was transferred to a hospital at Langres, where he remained until he
sailed for the United States in December. He arrived at Camp Merritt, in
New Jersey, December 24, and died there January 21, 1919. His body arrived
in Marysville under escort, and was buried in the Dobbins Catholic cemetery
with military honors.
Patrick Henry Dugan
Patrick Henry Dugan, born January 6, 1896, at Poker Flat, received his
education in Yuba and Butte Counties. From Yuba County, while engaged
in farming and stock-raising, he was called, November 4, 1917, to service. As
a private in the 41st, or Sunset, Division, he reached France on December
30, 1917. After trench work in the Toul sector, service with the Signal Corps,
and a transfer to Company E, 102nd Infantry, 26th Division, Patrick became
a litter-bearer with the Medical Corps. He went over the top many times,
and, except for a few weeks in hospital, after being gassed, saw continuous
service at Chateau Thierry, Soissons, St. Mihiel, and the Argonne Forest. He
YUBA-SUTTER WAR WORK 289
took part in the battle of September 12 and 13, when "the advancing- host
was stimulated to high endeavor by the fact that behind them lay their
shrine of Domremy. where Joan of Arc was born, and which no German sol-
dier shall ever profane by entering," and when in twenty-four hours the
troops captured a salient held by the Germans for four years.
On October 23, 1918, serving with his company as infantryman, Patrick
Henry Dugan fell in battle on the Verdun Front. He is buried in Crepion
Cemetery, Meuse.
Frank Raymond Gengler
Frank Raymond Gengler, son of Michel and Margaret Carl Gengler of
Marysville, and nephew of former Mayor Mat Arnoldy of that place, was
born January 2, 1894, on a farm near Cawker City, Kans. Most of his school
clays were spent in Cawker City. In March, 1909, the family moved to Marys-
ville, where Frank attended school a short while. For five years he was em-
ployed as grocery clerk by the firm of Bryant Brothers. Later he entered the
employ of the Marysville Fuel Company.
It was on November 5, 1917, that young Gengler joined the boys in khaki
at Camp Lewis. He was there only two days when he was sent to Camp
Mills, New York. In three weeks, December 6, 1917, he sailed for France as
a private in Company I, 161st Infantry. At Chateau Thierry he was gassed,
and was obliged to spend several months in a hospital. A bayonet wound re-
ceived at St. Mihiel in September sent him to Base Hospital No. 66. Of the
details of his death, little is known. He succumbed to bronchial pneumonia,
October 12. 1918. Faithful and conscientious in work, intensely patriotic as
a soldier, Gengler gave his life for the triumph of justice and liberty.
Lawrence Gray
Lawrence Gray died of influenza while in the service of his country, at
Mare Island Hospital, October 15, 1918. He was a son of William J. and
Mary A. Gray, and was survived by his mother and the following brothers
and sisters : Luella E., Gertrude V., William J., Albert D., and Dr. Everett
E. Gray, all residents of either Yuba or Sutter County.
He was born September 15, 1892, in Sutter County, and lived there until
1911, when he moved to Marysville, remaining there until he entered the
service. Young Gray was in the employ of the Yuba Manufacturing Com-
pany when he enlisted in the Naval Coast Defense, in July, 1917. He was not
called until February 18, 1918. After being stationed at San Pedro several
weeks, he was transferred to Pier No. 7, San Francisco, where he was sta-
tioned at the time of his death. He was a graduate of the Lincoln Grammar
School, in Sutter County, and of the Marysville High School.
Bert J. Hale
Corporal Bert J. Hale was born in Fremont, Ohio, June 24, 1888, being
the son of Henry and Serelda Hale. He attended the public schools of
Fremont until twelve years old, when the family removed to Toledo, where
he resided until reaching his majority. He then removed to Marysville,
Cal., where he was residing when, on May 1, 1918, he entered the service
of his country at Camp Lewis, Washington.
Hale was sent over seas on July 4, 1918, and, as a member of Company
B, 262nd Regiment, 91st Division, went into action on September 26, at the
opening of the battle of the Argonne. Three days later he was killed in
battle. He is survived by his mother, Mrs. Serelda Hale Rabold, of
Shelbv, Ohio.
YUBA-SUTTER WAR WORK
Earl Dewey Hall
On December, 16, 1918, to Marysville came the news of the heroic death
of Earl Dewey Hall, twenty-one, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jackson B. Hall, of
1028 Swezy Street, Marysville. He died in France, October 17, 1918. He
received his military training at Camp Kearney with Company E, 104th In-
fantry, enlisting in Sacramento, April 2, 1917. In July, 1918, he sailed for
"over there" with Company A, 26th Division, better known as the "Yankee
Division." Before the war he was in the employ of the Valley Meat Company
in Marysville.
Young Hall's letters from France indicated a brave spirit amid fierce
fighting. He was shot by a sniper, October 17, while he and his comrades
were cleaning out a machine-gun nest in the Hautmont Woods. Besides his
parents, four brothers and a sister survive.
Preston Francis Hendricks
Preston Francis Hendricks, Yuba County hero, was born in Browns
Valley, February 5, 1892. He was the eldest son of Joseph P. and Josephine
Binninger Hendricks. When the war broke out he was engaged in fanning
on his mother's ranch near Browns Valley. On June 28, 1918, he entrained
with thirty-eight other Yuba and Sutter County boys for Camp Kearney.
Assigned to Company D, 145th Machine Gun Battalion, he was soon after-
ward sent to France. There, while bathing with other soldiers in a canal near
the village of Torteron, Hendricks sustained an injury — the result of diving
into shallow water — which proved fatal. He died September 6, 1918, and was
buried at Nevers.
Edward Hove
Edward Hove was born in Westby, Wis., February 22, 1892. After
receiving a practical education in his native county, he decided to join his
brother, Oscar, who had preceded him to California because of the severe
winters of the Middle West. Together the brothers bought a farm in District
10, Yuba County, which they planted to prunes and grapes.
He was called to the service August 30, 1918, and was ordered to Camp
Lewis, Washington. After a short period of training, he contracted influenza,
followed by pneumonia, which proved fatal.
Arthur Eugene Linnell
Arthur Eugene Linnell, only son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Linnell of
Marysville, left his home for Fort McDowell, California, on October 3,
1918, being assigned to limited service as chauffeur and mechanic. In ten
days from that time he was stricken with influenza. His parents were sum-
moned to his bedside. Pneumonia developed, arid he died on October 21.
The young man was born in Orangevale, Sacramento County, twenty-
two years before. He secured his education in the Roseville and Orangevale
schools. Before going to his parents' farm near Marysville, he was engaged
with his brother in the garage business in Roseville. His death was the
second great sorrow to visit the Linnell home in a period of eight months,
the elder brother, Lloyd, having passed away on February 22, 1918.
Charles William McConaughy
Charles William McConaughy was born in Marysville, Yuba County,
July 26, 1878. He was the son of James and Josephine Marie McConaughy.
He first attended the Marysville schools, and his early education was con-
tinued in San Diego, to which place the family moved. He entered the
YUBA-SUTTER AVAR WORK 293
University of California with the class of 1901, but left in his senior year
to accept a position with the Pacific Gas & Electric Company at Dobbins,
Yuba County. While attending the University of California, he was Colonel
of the University Cadets and was recommended for admission to examina-
tion for appointment as Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. By
education and training an engineer, he spent his business and professional
life largely in association with W. P. Hammon, dredging promoter.
When the government called for engineers, in June, 1918, he volun-
teered. On October 21, 1918, he was commissioned Captain in the Engineers'
Reserve Corps and reported to Fort Douglas, Utah, on temporary assign-
ment. He was later given orders to proceed to Camp Humphreys, Virginia,
for a course at the Engineer Officers' Training Camp. On the way to Camp
Humphreys he was taken ill with influenza, and reported at once to the
hospital. He died on November 18, of pneumonia. Of Captain McConaughy,
his brother officers wrote: "His manly qualities and sterling character com-'
manded our respect ; and his unselfish disposition, our affection." He was
survived by his wife, Ann Swain McConaughy, daughter of William Cald-
well Swain and Mary A. Swain, pioneers of Marysville, and by his daughter,
Mary Josephine McConaughy.
Lewis Melton McCurry
Lewis Melton McCurry, son of Mr. and Mrs. L. W. McCurry of Wheat-
land, Yuba County, was born at Whea^and, January 11, 1896. He received
his education in the AVheatland Grammar and High Schools. On August
10, 1917, he answered his country's call and enlisted in the Marines. "Surely,
'Tobe' will return ; he was born under a lucky star," his friends, of whom he
had many, said ; for he had come unharmed through many serious mishaps
He was stationed at Mare Island for three months, and was then sent to
Quantico, Va. ; and early in February, 1918, he sailed for France. He was
in the fight at Chateau Thierry when the Germans attempted to break
through to Paris In this engagement he was wounded, on June 6, suffering
a compound fracture of the thigh, from machine-gun fire. He was taken to
the Second Base Hospital in Paris, and on June 19 wrote a letter to his
mother admonishing her not to worry, that he was doing fine. Then fol-
lowed an official telegram telling of his death on June 25.
Lewis McCurry was the first AVheatland boy to reach France. He
was with the 51st Company. 5th Regiment, U. S. Marine Corps. He was a
grandson of Dr. Lewis Melton, pioneer physician of Wheatland and a
veteran of the Civil War. Surviving him, besides his mother, are four
sisters and a brother.
Wilton Llye McDonald
Wilton Lyle McDonald, only son of Mrs. Lizzie McDonald of Wheat-
land, Yuba County, was born in that place October 30, 1886. He attended
school in AVheatland, and when quite a young man qualified for a teacher's
certificate. He later taught in Siskiyou County, with marked success.
AYhen the United States entered the war, he enlisted. That was in De-
cember, 1917. He was assigned to the Quartermaster Service AVagon Com-
pany, No. 304, and was soon made a Sergeant. On. August 6, 1918, he sailed
for France, from Jacksonville, Fla. A letter received by his mother in the
latter part of November, 1918, conveyed the sad news of Sergeant McDon-
ald's death, of la grippe, coupled with pneumonia.
YUBA-SUTTER WAR WORK
Edward J. McGanney
Edward James McGanney, born in Marysville, October 31, 1891; died
October 5, 1918, near Montfaucon, France. The story of Edward James
McGanney is the story of a young life given in splendid patriotism. When
America demanded that her sons make the supreme sacrifice in the cause
of human liberty, he answered, and his great adventure spelled death to
him on the battlefield. At the time he was called to the colors he was a
successful young farmer and stock-raiser of Smartsville, Yuba County,
where he was reared and educated.
He was one of the first contingent of selective service men to leave
Yuba County. While in training — first at Camp Lewis and then at Camp
Kearney — he was asked to remain on this side to instruct recruits, but he
elected to go with his comrades over seas to France. He was assigned to
the Supply Company of the 30th Infantry of the 3rd Division. He took part
■in the Meuse-Argonne battles, the decisive engagements of the World War.
It was while on a mission fraught with dangers to him known, that he fell
at Montfaucon. He was buried where he fell.
John E. Milligan
John E. Milligan was born near Enterprise, Butte County, in 1898.
Shortly thereafter the family removed to Marysville, where they have
resided ever since. After graduating from the Marysville Grammar School,
the young man attended high school for a time, and then gave his thoughts
to pharmacy. In this he was encouraged by Marysville and Sacramento
firms, until he enlisted in the United States Army Medical Department in
1917. His aptitude for his chosen work was soon recognized. He was given
time for study, and he passed a creditable examination before the California
State Board of Pharmacy. He was then given charge of the Dispensary at
Fort McDowell, and was given an honorable discharge in December, 1918,
after the armistice was signed.
He then entered the employ of a drug company in Sacramento and
Stockton, holding a responsible position until failing health forced his
return home, which was followed shortly by his being sent to a government
hospital for treatment for tuberculosis. He failed rapidlv, and passed away
at the hospital in Palo Alto in March, 1920.
William Lee Norton
William Lee Norton was a son of William L. and Mary Kelly Norton,
and was born on his father's ranch in Linda Township, Yuba County. He
was one of five children, there being three boys and two girls in the family.
Willie, as a boy, attended the Brophy school, the little grammar school near
his parents' home. As he grew to manhood his interests were centered in the
farm, much to the gratification of his father. His mother had died two
months previous to the time he was called to go to war, and four months
previous to his mother's death one of his sisters had also passed away.
Realizing his father's feeling, he said to him just before he left for the train-
ing camp: "Never mind, Pa, I'll look out for you; when I get back, every-
thing will be all right."
Young Norton left Marysville September 6, 1917, in the first draft
ordered to Camp Lewis. He was stationed with the 363rd Infantry, 91st
Division. Later he was sent to New Jersey, and in May, 1918, went to
France, where he was assigned to Company I, 128th Infantry. He took
part in several fierce engagements, and was killed in action on October
23, 1918. He carried an insurance with the government in the sum of
$10,000, payable to his father.
YUBA-SUTTER WAR WORK 295
Horatio Devore Poole
Date of birth. March 20, 1895: p'ace of birth, Sutter. California; father,
Horatio Dallas Poole : mother, Mary Jane Dickey Poole.
Horatio Devore Poole, one of Yuba County's best-known young men,
made the supreme sacrifice in the service of his country. Always of a happy
disposition and true blue to his friends, Devore Poole had many close to him
who now greatly miss his congeniality and heart}- handclasp. Before enter-
ing the service, he was foreman of the Rock & Young vulcanizing shop in
Marysville, where he won the good-will of those with whom he came in con-
tact. On September 1, 1918, he entered the Technical High training school in
Oakland to do military mechanical work, and while there earned the highest
credits in his work, which was nearly completed when he fell ill with
influenza. He was removed to the Letterman General Hospital in San Fran-
cisco, where he died of pneumonia on October 25, 1918, leaving, to mourn
his passing, his. widow, formerly Mary Elizabeth Finnegan, and an infant
son, James Dallas Poole.
Wilfred Rudolph Smith
Wilfred Rudolph Smith was born in Sacramento, January 22, 1889. Num-
bered among the pioneers of the Sacramento Valley, Alexander R. Smith,
his father, being a man of high worth and an excellent mathematician, was
an honored and trusted employe of the Southern Pacific Company for forty-
five years. The mother was Thelka Eugenia Hanson. Wilfred received his
education in the schools of Sacramento. Working as an apprentice in the
railroad shops, he became a skilled mechanic, possesing many of the sterling
qualities which characterized his father. A lover of nature, he spent his
leisure among the plants and flowers, and becoming an enthusiastic student
of horticulture, he took delight in grafting the trees and beautifying the
home garden.
The young man worked at the Benicia Arsenal, and later at Sparks.
Nev.. for the Pacific Gas & Electric Company, and was a faithful and effi-
cient employe for four years for the Yuba Construction Company, in Marys-
ville. While in the latter service, he was called to military duty, his position
being guaranteed him on his return from war. He responded nobly to his
country's call, enlisting in the Aviation Section, June 27, 1918. At Mather
Field he was attacked by influenza on November 6, and died after a brief
illness, November 16, 1918.
Charles S. Waller
In Base Hosiptal No. 18, at the edge of the Vosges Mountains, Charles
S. AYaller, one of Marysville's brave lads, gave up his life for his country.
Passing unscathed through the great battle of Chateau Thierry and others
which followed, he was finally compelled to pay the price of "making the
world" safe for democracy." An employe of the Yuba Manufacturing Com-
pany in Marysville, Walter enlisted in the war with a Sacramento company
of volunteers (the enlisting office in Marysville being closed), was sent to
Camp Kearney, and became a member of the 159th Infantry. At the time
of his death he was with the 38th Machine Gun Company, with which con-
tingent he had fought valiantly on the AVestern Front. Early in October.
Private Waller received a gunshot wound in the left leg, and also a fracture
of the member. Amputation became necessary ; and though he received the
best of care, he failed to rally. His death brought gloom to the com-
296 .YUBA-SUTTER WAR WORK
munity where he lived in peace times, and sadness to the hearts of his
many Marysville friends.
Born in Fruto. Glenn County, April 15, 1893, Charles S. Waller was the
son of Louis S. and Mary Caldwell Waller. He was survived by his mother
and two sisters, the latter being Mrs. P. K. Wilcoxon of Marysville and Mrs.
H. T. Seaman of Hilt, Siskiyou County.
William Oliver White
William Oliver White was born in Paisley, Ore. He was one of six
children, and was the son of parrell W. and Hannah S. White. The family
moved to Red Bluff, where William attended the public schools for several
years. Later he chose Marysville .as his residence, living there until he
enlisted in the World War in the army of the United States of America,
with the 362nd Infantry, 91st Division. He was wounded soinewhere in
France, dying in a hospital about September, 1918. He was twenty-one
years of age when he made the supreme sacrifice.
John Zvijerkoyich
John Zvijerkovich, a native of Dalmatia, born February 14, 1887, gave
his life on the battlefield, fighting in the ranks of his adopted country. The
desire to make his own way in the world led the young man to leave Dal-
matia at the age of fifteen for the lands across the sea, and in 1902 he went
to Buenos Ayres, Argentina. After three years, he arrived in the United
States, the haven of his youthful hopes, and the great country for which
he was ultimately to make the complete sacrifice. With his brother George,
he located in Marysville in 1913, and for a time the two young men aided
their uncle in the restaurant business. ' Later the ownership of the estab-
lishment passed to the brothers, and they conducted it with marked
success, earning for themselves an exceptional reputation for industry
and business integrity.
John was drafted with the initial contingent from Marysville, Septem-
ber 5, 1917, being one of the first five to leave for Camp Lewis. By reason of
his experience, he was made head cook and later was promoted to the rank
of Mess Sergeant. In a short time he was sent over seas ; and the testimony
of his officers is proof of his efficiency in his work, and his courageousness
as a soldier. One of his superiors, in a letter to the young man's family,
said : "John was the best-liked boy in the company ; always cheerful, unflag-
ging in energy, and ever ready with a kind act."
Mess Sergeant John Zvijerkovich was killed instantly at MontfauQon,
France, September 28, 1918, while dashing forward in the cause of humanity.
He was a man of honor, as attested in his business dealings, a true patriot,
a brave soldier, and he gave his all willingly for his fellow men.
YUBA-SUTTER WAR WORK 297
IN MEMORIAM
By Mrs. Hugh Moncur
SUTTER COUNTY HEROES
Trugva M. Bordsen
Although not a native of this country, Trugva M. Bordsen gave his life
in its service. Trugva M. Bordsen was born in Norway, August 7, 1894. After
his graduation in both grammar and high school in his native land, he came
to the United States and made his home with his sister at Sutter City, Sut-
ter County, Cal. After three years he returned to Norway to visit his father,
other relatives and friends, returning to Sutter County after a few months.
At the time of his registration he was employed in a logging camp at West-
wood, Lassen County. He came to Sutter County to submit to the draft.
From Camp Lewis, Washington, he was sent to Camp Kearney, where he
trained for eight months. He sailed for over-seas duty in July, 1918, with
the 160th Infantry, later being transferred to the 127th Infantry. He was
killed in action, October 18, 1918, aged 24. He was the youngest of a family
of thirteen children. His Sutter City relatives are two sisters, Mrs. Ole
Thomasen and Mrs. John Borson, and a brother, Tonder Bordsen.
Joseph Miner Burns
A Sutter County boy, Joseph M. Burns volunteered as a private and
at the end of the war had attained the rank of Sergeant, having served his
country faithfully and well from August 21, 1917, to June 8, 1-919. June 2,
1919, he sailed from Bordeaux, France, for the United States ; and on that
homeward trip he was drowned, on June 8. His body was not recovered.
Among his personal effects on the boat was found this poem :
"Just an old-fashioned letter that lay on
the ground ;
It came from a soldier boy's heart;
Before he could send it,
He had to end it.
It was found without address —
Not even a name —
So the message will never be known ;
Only God in His might
Knows who is waiting tonight
For the letter that lay on the ground."
Joseph was born in Colusa, Colusa County, June 2, 1892. There he
attended the Convent School. At the age of eight, he removed with his
parents to a farm near Sutter City, in Sutter County. He helped in the farm
work until he was twenty-one, by which time he had graduated from the
Sutter Union High School. At majority he enlisted in the arm}- for seven
years. After a year's service, he was bought out by his parents and given
an honorable discharge, returning to Sutter County.
For the AVorld War he enlisted in the Aviation Section. On crossing
the seas, he saw desperate fighting as an observer in a balloon. On June 18.
1918, he was gassed for the first time. On July 3, 1918, near the town of
298 YUBA-SUTTER WAR WORK
Survilla, in the Chateau Thierry section, there was brought down, under his
supervision, the first Boche aeroplane. September 14, 1918, he was wounded
while going over the top, and recovered.
William Stewart Cannon
Lieutenant William Stewart Cannon was born in San Francisco, Sep-
tember 16, 1895. He graduated from the University of Santa Clara with
the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1917, and took a postgraduate course, receiv-
ing the degree of Juris Doctor. He entered the training camp at the Pre-
sidio,. San Francisco, in the same year, and entered the army as a Second
Lieutenant after having passed a highly creditable examination. He contin-
ued with the work of training while awaiting the results of the examination.
Lieutenant Cannon's first detail was to Douglas, Ariz., to join the 10th
Artillery. Later he was transferred to the Cavalry as a regular U. S. Army
officer. He went over seas in May, and, after being in active service at the
front until the armistice was signed, was transferred to the Judge Advocate
Department with headquarters at Ancy le France. Later he was made First
Lieutenant and Acting Zone Major at that place. Leaving France the latter
part of June, he was stricken with appendicitis aboard ship and died as the
boat was entering the harbor at New York. He was, buried in Holy Cross
Cemetery in San Francisco, with the highest honors the Catholic Church
extends to the layman. He was twenty-four when the summons came.
Manuel F. Gomes
Manuel F. Gomes was born in Marysville, Yuba County, on December
25, 1890. While he was attending the grammar school in that place, his
parents removed to Sutter County, wdiere they followed farming. Until he
was twenty-three, he aided his father on the farm, at the same time gaining
graduation from the Yuba City grammar school.
In April, 1917, he responded to -his country's call, enlisting for three
years. After several months' training in the various camps in the United
States, he was sent to France, a member of Company E, 109th Infantry, in
July, 1917. He was killed in action, March 21, 1918.
Herman L. Hansen
Herman L. Hansen was born November 3, 1894, in Nicolaus, Sutter
County. He was educated in the grammar school in that place, and in the
Marysville High School, graduating with the class of 1914. He then spent
three years on the farm helping his father.
On November 5, 1917, he was sent to Camp Lewis, remaining but a few
days, and then was sent to Camp Mills and on to France, where he was as-
signed to the 2nd Division, Company A, 23rd Infantry. On October 3, 1918.
he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for assisting a wounded
comrade out of "No Man's Land." In the battle of Blanc Mont Ridge,
Champagne Sector, he was mortally wounded on October 8, 1918, passing
away on the same day.
Paul John Langenbach
Lieutenant Paul J. Langenbach, one of the Sutter County heroes after
whom Bishop-Langenbach Post of Marysville, Veterans of Foreign Wars,
was named, was born in San Francisco, September 15, 1895. He was a son
of Paul J. and Clementina K. Langenbach. His earlier education was
YUBA-SUTTER WAR WORK 301
received in the grammar school of Encinal, Sutter County, where he
graduated in 1912. He then attended the Marysville High School, complet-
ing its course in 1915.
The young man enlisted as a private with Company E, 2nd California
Infantry, during the Mexican-border troubles in 1916, and reenlisted with
the same unit in March, 1917, at President Wilson's call for volunteers in
the World War. His command was ordered to Camp Kearney, and there
merged with the 160th Infantry. Lieutenant Langenbach rose from the
ranks and was commissioned Second Lieutenant on May 26, 1918, and as-
signed to Company L, 160th U. S. Infantry. He sailed for over seas in July,
1918, with his company. Upon his arrival in France he was immediately
transferred to Company I, l02nd Infantry, which was known as the "Yan-
kee Division." He fought in the battle of St. Mihiel, where the entire 102nd
Infantry Regiment was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French Govern-
ment. He fought in the drive north of Verdun ; and on October 27, 1918,
was killed while leading his troops in the great Argonne drive.
Sidney Henry Lyall
Sidney Henry Lyall was born in Verona, Sutter County, March 28,
1897. He was a graduate of the Verona grammar school and afterwards at-
tended Heald's Business College in Sacramento, and St. Mary's College in
Oakland. He helped on the farm until June, 1917, when he enlisted in the
navy. He was stationed for a -time at San Pedro, and then was transferred
to San Francisco. During his stay there he contracted influenza, from which
he never recovered. He passed away on October 28, 1917, at the age of
twenty years and seven months.
He was a bright and energetic youth, who had before him a brilliant
future ; but the call to duty, to render service to his beloved country, meant
more to him than a promising future.
Harold J. Moore
Harold J. Moore was born in Live Oak, Sutter County, April 18, 1894.
He attended grammar school in Live Oak ; and after completing the course,
he worked on the farm of his father, J. H. Moore, of that place. He was sent
to Camp Lewis in the early days of the war, and from that point over
seas. He was wounded in action, degree undetermined, on July 18, 1918.
He died August 8, 1918, of meningitis. He was No. 2267878, of Company
E, 23rd Infantry.
Elmer Elwood Van Lew
Elmer Elwood Van Lew, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Van Lew,
was born near Knights Landing, Yolo County, November 4, 1893. He lived
on a farm with his parents, two sisters (Mrs. Eva Roth and Mae Van Lew),
and one brother, Lester Van Lew. After finishing the grammar-school
course, he took a course in a correspondence school. He also took up music,
and was a cornet soloist in the Knights Landing Band. He was a member
of the Foresters of America and the Modern Woodmen lodges. He started
farming when a mere lad, and was so engaged when he was called in the
draft and sent to Camp Lewis, December 9, 1917, for training.
He remained in Camp Lewis until June, 1918, when he was transferred
to an Eastern training camp. He went over seas as a private in July, 1918,
with Company I, 361st Infantry, 91st Division. He was held in training in
302 YUBA-SUTTER WAR WORK
France until September 26, when the 91st Division was called into action
in the battle of the Argonne, where they fought for nine days, to be
relieved on October 4. After resting one day and one night, the 361st
and 362nd Regiments were again called to the front. It was in this
battle that our young hero was killed near Gesnes, France, October 9, by
a machine-gun bullet.
Everett Kelly Wisner
Everett Kelly Wisner was the son of Olivia P. and the late Allen E.
AVisner. He was born at West Butte, Sutter Count)', December 7, 1892. He
attended the Noyesburg school, near the Sutter Buttes. He was an active and
industrious lad, many times securing employment where others failed.
On May 5, 1917, he was sent as an alternate to Camp Lewis, Washing-
ton, and later to Long Island, New York, where he was placed in the Supply
Compan)' in the 1st Division, 162nd Infantry. He sailed for over seas about
December 12, 1917. There were seven in this convoy of transports; the one
that young Wisner was aboard narrowly missed a torpedo. After arriving
in France, he was made wagoner in the Supply Company.
The last letter received by his relatives from him was received on July
5, 1917. This was followed by a message dated in October, stating that he
was killed about July 18, at Chateau Thierry. Shortly before that date he
had been promoted to the Front Company L, 18th Infantry, 1st Division.
Sergeant Calvin Wisner, a brother, an air-service machinist, arrived in
Europe the day Everett was killed.
YUBA-SUTTER WAR WORK
303
ROLL OF HONOR
YUBA COUNTY HEROES
Private Lester A. Bishop.
Private Lewis J. Blodget.
Private Claude B. Boswell.
Private Fred T. Bottler.
Private James M. Brown.
Private Charles F. Cassano.
Private Richard N. Coupe.
Private Patrick H. Dugan.
Private Frank R. Gengler.
Cadet Lawrence Gray.
Corporal Bert ]. Hale.
Private Earl D. Hall.
Private Preston F. Hendricks.
Private Edward Hove.
Private Arthur E. Linnell.
Captain Charles W. McConaugfn
Private Lewis M. McCurry.
Sergeant Wilton L. McDonald.
Private Edward J. McGanney.
Private John E. Milligan.
Private William L. Norton.
Private Horatio D. Poole.
Private Wilfred R. Smith.
Private Charles S. Waller.
Private William O. White.
Sergeant John Zvijerkovich.
SUTTER COUNTY HEROES
Private Trugva M. Bordsen. Lieutenant Paul J. Langenbach.
Sergeant Joseph M. Burns. Cadet Sidney H. Lyall.
Lieutenant William S. Cannon. Private Harold J. Moore.
Private Manuel F. Gomes. Private Elmer E. Van Lew.
Private Herman L. Hansen. Private Everett K. Wisner.
HEROES DECEASED SINCE THE WAR
Fred Addington.
Alexander Brown.
Samuel H. Cabot.
Richard Carifre.
George Howard.
L- W. Johnson.
Waldo S. Johnson.
Neil Jones.
John Kail.
Leslie Kimball.
Henry A. Lubman.
Dona'ld McDonald.
John McDonald.
Thomas Martin.
William F. O'Brien.
Andrew Skinner.
Private Watson.
Lester Wilbur.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark their places ; in the sky,
The larks, still bravely singing, fly —
Are heard amid stilled guns below.
They are The Dead : short days ago
They lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved — and now they
In Flanders fields.
Keep up their quarrel witli the foe
Of Liberty. They, falling, throw
The torch. 'Tis ours to hold it high !
If we break faith with those who die,
They cannot sleep, tho' poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
PIONEERS, PAST AND PRESENT
HALSEY H. DUNNING. — Not every interesting and instructive career
of even an exceptionally public-spirited public man of the first importance so
well illustrates the value of previous opportunity and experience in travel
and observation as that of Halsey H. Dunning, known as one of the most
aggressively progressive promoters of Northern California, and one of the
most representative and influential citizens in Marysville. Having traveled
throughout California, and particularly in the Southland and the San Joaquin
Valley, and having acquired a practical, detailed experience in leading lines
of business, he early detected the natural resources of Yuba and Sutter
Counties, at a time when the potentialities of this region were not generally
recognized. Upon his return from his tours, he manifested the liveliest in-
terest in favor of development ; and this intelligent appreciation of Yuba and
Sutter Counties' importance led to his appointment as director of the Sacra-
mento Valley Development Association. The conscientious and successful
discharge of the responsible duties connected with that position led to his com-
mission as the representative for Yuba County at the Panama-Pacific Expo-
sition in San Francisco, and also at the San Diego Fair. His study of modern
conditions, and particularly of traffic problems, at these teeming centers
proved in time the incentive to his giving to Marysville the largest and best-
equipped garage, under one roof, in the State of California.
Halsey H. Dunning was born at Moores Flat,. Nevada Count)-, on Au-
gust 27, 1869, the son of an early settler, Zopher Dunning, and his good wife,
who had been Sarah Hawthorn in maidenhood. Both 6f these worthy parents
were born in Maine, the father at Bangor, and the mother at Thomaston,
a little place in Knox County. In 1848, Zopher Dunning set out from his
native State on a sailing vessel bound for Australia ; and having rounded
Cape Horn on his rough and hazardous voyage, he reached the Golden Gate
at last, and soon afterward went inland to the mines at Moores Flat, where
for twenty years he went through the ups and downs of a miner's life. In
1870 he came to Marysville; and until 1872 he was proprietor and manager
of the old Denton House, where his excellent service and old-fashioned hos-
pitality became well and pleasantly known. He had bought a ranch at Yuba
Dam, about two miles from Marysville, and there, in connection with his
farming, he conducted one of the best road-houses in Northern California.
This old ranch has since then been cut up into subdivisions suited to the
more modest operations of the small farmer, and sold to former employees
and others, the estate thus continuing to be operated in the interest of the
most intensive development of the section's resources. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Dunning have passed away. They were most useful members of society,
and were widely known and esteemed. They left a family of six children :
Aurelia, now Mrs. Catland, of Santa Ana; Florence R., the wife of Charles
Hastings; Iola T. ; Halsey H., of this review; and Louis and Abigail, now
Mrs. Casey, also of Marysville.
Halsey H. Dunning attended the Linda district school, having been
reared in Yuba County ; and when school days were over, he learned the
308 HISTORY OF YUBA AND SUTTER COUNTIES
carpenter's and wood-worker's trade. He was thus equipped to take advant-
age of the great building boom in Southern California, and going south to
San Bernardino County, in 1889, he followed carpentering there until 1891.
Returning north, he found employment in the operation of threshing machin-
ery, and remained in Stockton until 1896. Then he 'removed -to San Benito
County, where he successfully conducted a blacksmith shop at Paicines, and
also one at Tres Pinos. Disposing of his holdings in 1905, he returned to
Marysville. There, in partnership with his brother, he established a repair
shop for harvesters, on C Street, the two forming a firm under the name of
Dunning Brothers; and in 1907 they incorporated their business as the Dunn-
ing Brothers Company, at the same time purchasing for their factory and
headquarters the corner of Fourth and E Streets. Later they erected a two-
storv concrete garage building, 73 by 160 feet in size, and while continuing
the business of harvester-repairing, began also to give their attention to work
upon automobiles. In 1912, Halsey Dunning bought out his brother's interest,
and took into partnership with him his own sons ; and since then the' business
has been continued as a close corporation, each of the members giving his
undivided time, attention and best efforts to the establishment's success. The
most marked prosperity of the firm dates from that year, 1912, when the
Dunnings became the agents for the Ford automobile for Yuba and Sutter
Counties ; and this agency led later to their handling the Lincoln car and the
Fordson tractor.
A member of the Sacramento Valley Development Association, organ-
ized in 1900, Mr. Dunning was appointed by the board of supervisors of
Yuba County both as a director and as the official representative, for which
he was preeminently fitted, being familiar with local conditions, and alive to
the possibilities of this section when once the advantages should be made
known beyond the county and State. Intensely interested in hastening devel-
opment of the fertile valley, he faithfully fulfilled the duties connected with
his position, despite the cost of fatiguing effort and valuable time. It was
very natural, therefore, that when the Panama-Pacific International Exposi-
tion was launched in San Francisco, the supervisors of Yuba County should
appoint Mr. Dunning sole commissioner for the county on the commission
representing the Sacramento Valley, and to this commission he also gave
unstintingly of his time in promotion of the interests of the section he repre-
sented. Finding', however, that the new responsibilities conflicted with his
onerous work in the Sacramento Valley Development Association, he
resigned his position with the latter body to give more time to Exposition
work. Hardly had he undertaken the San Francisco budget when he was
also commissioned to represent the Sacramento Valley exhibit at the San
Diego Fair. This double program compelled him to spend part of his time in
the Bay City in the North, and considerable time in the Southern city. But
he was well rewarded by the results, for so well received were the Sacramento
Valley exhibits that the entire section undoubtedly gained wide repute there-
by. Provision had been made to pay the members of the commission for their
time and expenses, but Mr. Dunning, with characteristic liberality, refused
to accept any such remuneration. He continued active on the commission
until the closing up of all business matters, and then he returned the balance
of money on hand to the supervisors — the only instance in the State's history
when any public money was returned after an exposition.
It was while Mr. Dunning was in the Southland that, he had a chance
to compare the possibilities of the Sacramento Valley, and its natural re-
sources, with other portions of the State, and this comparison deepened and
broadened his insight into the greater opportunities awaiting the counties
of Yuba and Sutter. With A. L. Conard and others, he became one of the
HISTORY OF YUBA AND SUTTER COUNTIES 309
organizers of the Lassen Volcanic National Park Association, in which he
is now a director. This association was organized in order to gain govern-
mental recognition and secure appropriation from the government with
which more rapidly to improve the Lassen Volcanic National Park. The
originators of the movement went before the State legislature as well, and
secured an appropriation of $8000 for development work. Mr. Dunning's
first-hand experience and personal observation in both the Southland and at
San Francisco, as commissioner, materially aided him in the development of
his own business interests, and gave him the incentive to provide a thoroughly
up-to-date garage and automobile service for Marysville. Following the
selection of the Dunning Brothers Company as agents for the Ford products,
the company found their quarters inadequate, as the population increased
and their trade developed ; and in 1918 Halsey Dunning built the California
Garage, at the corner of Fourth and I Streets, a structure 160 by 240 feet,
the largest garage on one floor in the State. After conducting both establish-
ments for a while, however, they gave up their old location, on January 1,
1921, leasing the well-known building for stores. From that time on they
concentrated their efforts and energies in the highest development of their
main enterprise. The marked increase of business once more necessitated
enlargement, and in 1923-1924 they built a two-story extension, 80 by 160 feet,
to their California Garage, making a total floor space of 67,000 square feet,
occupying a whole block facing I Street, and extending from Third to Fourth
Street. This establishment is the most complete of any in the State, each
department being confined to separate rooms, and each run under the man-
agement of an acknowledged expert. There is a salesroom for the Ford and
the Lincoln cars, another for trucks and bodies, and a third for tractors and
tractor equipment. There is an electrical and battery shop, a radiator and
sheet-metal department, and also a vulcanizing shop. In addition to these,
there are an accessory department, where everything for the Ford and Lin-
coln cars, and the Fordson tractor, is to be found ; trimming and top and
paint shops ; a used-car sales department ; a modern machine shop, with a
most complete blacksmith shop ; and a body-building shop. In fact, every-
thing for the car and tractor, for repairs of every kind, and for the best of
service, is to be found under their vast roof, with a storage room besides.
To supply the service station, which is in charge of four girls, Mr. Dunning
purchases gasoline in car-lots ; and he has an individual pipe-line running to
the spur on the Western Pacific Railroad, by which the gasoline is brought
by gravity to his storage tanks at the station, the auxiliary tanks giving him
a capacity of 18,000 gallons. This simple process of handling eliminates
waste, evaporation and extra expense, so that the firm is enabled to sell
gasoline three cents per gallon under the prices of competitors, and still
make a fair profit. The offices of this establishment are located on the
mezzanine floor, in the center of the building, overlooking the whole garage.
Adequate space is set apart for rest rooms, and balconies are arranged for
the comfort of patrons, even a play-room for children of tourist-patrons being
provided. There is also a cafeteria, with electric cooking apparatus, and a
noonday meal is supplied to employees at a cost of twenty-five cents per plate.
From even this brief description it will be seen that the Dunning Brothers
Company have not overlooked a single item to render service of the worth-
while sort to appreciative patrons, looking after their welfare and comfort
as well as after the best interests of the employee. The company also main-
tains a branch garage at Wheatland, in Yuba County, in their own building,
44 by 90 feet in size, and another branch at Live Oak, in Sutter County,
60 by 100 feet in size, near the center of the town and both catering to the
fast growing traffic speeding through on the great State highways.
310 HISTORY OF YUBA AND SUTTER COUNTIES
At Sacramento, in 1888, Mr. Dunning- was married to Miss Sarah E.
Manning-, a native of Folsom, Cal., and an accomplished lady, and a social
favorite. They have been blessed with five children: Encil M., Don L.,
William Glenn, Jack, and Ada Elizabeth. The four sons are associated with
their father in business. Mr. Dunning has been active for years in both civie
and fraternal circles; in 1915-1916 he served as president of the -Marysville
Chamber of Commerce. He is a director and vice-president of the Rotary
Club, and a member of Marysville Lodge No. 783, B. P. O. Elks. He is a
Democrat, and a member of the Democratic County Central Committee, of
which he has been chairman ; and he has been a member of the Democratic
State Central Committee for years. He is distinguished as one of the most
enterprising citizens of Marysville, with the broadest vision and exceptional
courage and nerve to build for the future, an excellent judge of business
conditions, and an optimist of the most hopeful and helpful kind. As a first-
class "booster," he was one of the first promoters of the new hotel, and has
become one of the largest stockholders ; and he has always been conspicuous
for his championing of every local undertaking for the beautifying of the city
and the development of its resources. He deserves especial credit for his
great work in laboring for improved roads, for which he has accomplished
much in this part of Northern California. Marysville has never had a
more public-spirited citizen, nor one more deserving of the public's confi-
dence and gratitude ; nor could any community in the Pacific commonwealth
hope to have a more unselfish, untiring worker at home for the community's
good, or a more fearless and unremitting champion abroad, of the commu-
nity in which he lives.
PETER J. DELAY.— Peter J. Delay, author of this History of Yuba
and Sutter Counties, was born in Marysville, Yuba County, September 8,
1865, and has resided continuously in the county. His first employment
was delivering newspapers in the era when one train a day reached the city
from the larger centers, which arrival was the big event, and everyone who
was at leisure went to the railroad sta-tion to note the arrivals and departures.
Peculiarly enough, after ten years of store life, starting at the age of seven-
teen, he drifted back into newspaper work and at this writing has been con-
nected with the "fourth estate" for thirty years.
In 1893 he took the position of city editor of the Marysville Democrat,
evening paper, holding the same for seven years. Early in 1900, he entered
the employment of the Sacramento Bee, as a special correspondent to the
Superior California department of that paper, covering Yuba, Sutter and
adjoining counties.
Representing the State controller's office in the inheritance-tax depart-
ment, he has served under three regimes — under those of A. B. Nye and the
late John S. Chambers, and at the present writing under State Controller
Ray L. Riley.
In March, 1904, Peter J. Delay was elected, without opposition, a mem-
ber of the Common Council of the City of Marysville, representing the third
ward. At the close of a two-years term he was reelected to the same office.
In March, 1908, he was chosen Mayor of his native city in one of the
warmest municipal elections in the city's history. At the end of his term
he retired from political life. A fellow journalist living at a distance, com-
menting upon Mr. Delay's success at the polls, expressed wonderment,
editorially, as to how a man with a name denoting anything but force,
and with the burden of a newspaper man to live down, could accomplish
such a feat.
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HISTORY OF YUBA AND SUTTER COUNTIES 313
HON. FRED HENRY GREELY.— In many capacities Fred Henry
Greely has served the public, always doing able and conscientious work in
every position to which he has been elected. He is now serving as recorder
and auditor for Yuba County, having been continued in those offices for the
past twelve years. He is one of California's native sons and was born at
Galena Hill, July 5, 1856, of the marriage of Justus and Margaret (Rideout)
Greely. His grandfather, John Greely, lived and died in Palermo, Waldo
County, Maine, being the seventh, as our subject is the ninth, in lineal
descent from Andrew Greele (as he spelled the name) of Salisbury, Mass..
the records of the town first mentioning his name as a resident of the place
in 1640, though he may have been in Massachusetts at an earlier date. John
Greely was born in 1801 and died in 1886. Members of the family, quite
generally, have been of advanced age when they passed on. The emigrant
Andrew Greele built the first mill in Salisbury. General A. W. Greely and
Horace Greeley were of the same family, and members of the family served
in the Colonial and Revolutionary Wars. The first four generations resided
at Salisbury, Mass. ; thereafter members of the family moved to Newcastle,
Maine, and later to Palermo, Waldo County, Maine.
Justus Greely, the father of our subject, was born in Palermo, Maine, and
was twenty-one years of age when he came to San Francisco, via the Nica-
ragua route, in 1851. He came on to Yuba County and mined at Parks Bar
on the Yuba River. In 1854 he returned East and was married to Miss
Margaret Rideout, a sister of N. D. Rideout, later the banker of Marysville.
Immediately returning to California with his bride, he and N. D. Rideout
were partners in mining at Galena Hill. In 1860 Justus Greely returned to
Maine with his family and engaged in the wholesale and retail grocery busi-
ness near his old home, later locating in Portland, Maine, where he continued
the business for three years, when he sold all of his holdings and returned to
California with his family on one of the early overland trains. In July, 1869,
he located in Marysville and purchased an interest in the old Buckeye Mill,
engaging in manufacturing flour ; and in time buying out the other partner,
he became sole owner and incorporated the Buckeye Milling Company,
enlarging the business as his trade grew. Later he consolidated it with the
Pioneer Mill in Sacramento, and the two did business together for many
years. When the Sperry Flour Company was organized, it absorbed both of
these companies as well as others. Justus Greely was a member of the
board of directors of the Sperry Flour Company until his death on April 6,
1911, at the age of eighty-one. He was levee director in Marysville for mam-
years and was one of the prime movers in the building of the permanent
levees that today so well protect the city; he did not believe in doing things
by halves, but wisely builded the levees much higher than the limit of high
water. He was also city treasurer for many years. The mother, Margaret
Rideout, also came from an old Maine family and was of English descent.
Her three brothers, Henry, Benjamin and Ransom, were all river captains in
Maine. Benjamin and Ransom Rideout came to California in pioneer days
and were captains on the Sacramento River; and their sons followed in their
footsteps and are captains on the Sacramento River at the present time, as
well as some of their grandsons. Mrs. Justus Greely died in 1904 at the
age of seventy years. This worth}- pioneer couple had two children, Fred H.
and Margaret, who resides in Berkeley and is now the widow of Dr. David
Powell.
In 1860 Fred H. Greely accompanied his parents via the Isthmus of
Panama to Maine, attending school there until 1869, when the family
returned to California. Here he graduated from the Marysville High School
in the first graduating class, of which .Mr. Greely is the only member now
314 HISTORY OF YUBA AND SUTTER COUNTIES
living. He then went East and at Kents Hill fitted for Harvard, from 1874
to 1876; but he decided instead to enter a smaller college, and so matricu-
lated at Wesleyan University, at Middletown, Conn., continuing his studies
for two years, when his eyesight became impaired and he had to give up his
studies for the time. Returning to California, he took a position in the
Buckeye Mills and became secretary of the company, a position he filled for
many years. When the Sperry Flour Company absorbed the mill, he became
a director in this company, continuing as such for many years until he sold
his stock. He took up the study of law in the office of W. H. Carlin of
Marysville, and on March 13, '1900, was admitted to the bar of California.
On beginning his professional career, Mr. Greely became associated with
his former preceptor, Mr. Carlin, a relationship that was continued until
September, 1901, when he withdrew from the partnership and began practic-
ing independently. His ability in solving intricate legal problems soon
became recognized and led to his selection for the office of district attorney,
which he filled from 1907 to 1911. Meanwhile, in 1886, he had been chosen
mayor of Marysville, and in 1889 he was elected to represent his district in
the State Senate. For seven years he served on the board of trustees of the
Normal School at Chico, under appointment of Governor Markham, and in
1903 he was appointed register of the United States Land Office at Marys-
ville, with which he was connected until the removal of the office to Sacra-
mento in 1906. In December, 1910, the then incumbent, S. O. Gunning,
auditor and recorder of Yuba County, who had just been elected to the
office to succeed himself, died and Mr. Greely was appointed by the board
of supervisors to fill the vacancy, serving out his full term until January,
1915. In the meantime, in the fall of 1914, he was nominated and elected
county auditor and recorder by a big majority. In 1918 he was reelected
without opposition, and in 1922 he was again reelected, also without opposi-
tion. He is giving these offices all of his attention, his long retention in the
office being proof of his efficiency and trustworthiness. He is a member of
the County Recorders' Association of the State of California. All this time
he has also been engaged in ranching and cattle-raising. From 1889 to 1914
he owned about 3000 acres in Yuba County. Selling this, he then bought a
1400-acre ranch in the valley of Yuba County, which he also sold at a profit ;
and he now owns a ranch in Sutter County devoted to the growing of olives,
grapes and prunes.
On October 5, 1879, Mr. Greely was united in marriage to Miss Eettie
Bost, and they have a large circle of friends in Marysville. Mrs. Greely was
born in Marysville, a daughter of Jacob M. Bost, who was born in Ohio and
there married Sarah White. Coming to California across the plains by ox-
team in 1854, he became a pioneer of Marysville and engaged in teaming for
several years, until he began ranching. He is now living retired, with our
subject, and is hale and hearty at the age of ninety-one. Mrs. J. M. Bost
died in 1891, aged fifty-nine years. Eettie Bost, their only daughter, was edu-
cated in Marysville, and her entire life has been spent here. She is a
member and treasurer of the Woman's Improvement Club. The union of
Mr. and Mrs. Greely was blessed with two children : Helen, Mrs. Waste of
Marysville ; and Donnell, who was assistant cashier of the Rideout Bank on
the outbreak of the World AVar, when he entered the officers' training camp
at the Presidio. He was commissioned second lieutenant in 1918, and was
promoted to first lieutenant at Camp Fremont. He went over seas with the
13th Regulars and did not return until after the armistice. He is now Cap-
tain of Headquarters Company, 91st- Division, U. S. Reserves. He is inter-
ested with his father in ranching: and horticulture.
HISTORY OF YUBA AND SUTTER COUNTIES 315
Fred H. Greely is a member of Marysville Parlor, No. 6, N. S. G. W.
He is a Past President, and also served as Grand President of that order in
1885, and is also Past Exalted Ruler of Marysville Lodge, No. 783, B. P. O.
Elks. He is intensely interested in preserving- the old historical pioneer land-
marks in California. He was one of the four-minute speakers, making over
600 speeches, or one a day, during the "World War, and was active in selling
the Liberty Bonds and boosting the county over the top each time. He was
for ten years a member of Company C, 8th Infantry, N. G. C, serving on
General Montgomery's staff as Major Inspector of Rifle Practice, himself
holding a record as one of the crack shots of old Company C. He has closely
studied the questions and issues of the day, and believing that the principles
of the Republican party contain the best elements of good government, he
has ever labored for its success. He stands high in his profession, and at all
times has been actuated by an unselfish spirit of devotion to the general good.
JAMES RILEY GARRETT.— The wholesale and retail merchandising
business of the J. R. Garrett Co., of Marysville, stands forth as one of the
most substantial and influential of its kind in the State of California. It is
by far the largest in Marysville, and has greater facilities for handling and
shipping grain, provisions, groceries and general produce than any other
concern in the Sacramento Valley. At its head was a man who had worked
his way up without missing any rounds of the ladder, and whose splendid
achievement went hand in hand with profound respect on the part of his
fellow men. He came to the West with the special attributes of the mer-
chant ; and these have made his specialty pay, through persistency of pur-
pose and minute attention to details.
J. R. Garrett was born on a farm near South Trenton, Oneida County.
N. Y., July 19, 1837, his family having been established in New York by his
paternal grandfather, Peter Garrett, whose youthful ambitions found an
outlet in running away from his home in England, and in some way pro-
curing passage on an American-bound ship. He lived on a New York farm
for the remainder of his life. His son, Samuel Garrett, was born in Oneida
County, and in early life married Jane Morton. Samuel Garrett left Oneida
County in 1844, going via the Erie Canal to Buffalo, and from there taking
a schooner to Milwaukee, Wis. With wagons and ox teams he moved his
family to near Harvard, McHenry County, 111., where he took up raw land
in the wilderness and proceeded to establish a home for those dependent
on him. His death in 1862 left much to be desired in the way of provision
for the support of his family of seven children, and seeing no particular
advantage in remaining in Illinois, the mother, her five daughters and two
sons crossed the plains in the spring of 1864. As James R. was the oldest,
he superintended the preparations and drove one of the wagons, the train
being a large one, including people from all walks of life. The season was
a dry one, and hay and provisions were exceedingly high, so that the first
season they spent in California they had to pay as high as $50 a ton for hay,
and four and one-half cents a pound for barley.
Uninterruptedly, James Riley Garrett spent his Western life in Marys-
ville, which gave him work as a teamster for about fifteen months, and then
furnished other occupations, from all of which he succeeded in laying aside
a part of his income. By August 1. 1866, he was able to buy an interest in
the mercantile firm of E. W. Whitney & Co., his partners being Messrs.
Freeman and Mathews. A year later he reached out still further and bought
into the business of W. M. Bell & Co., operating under the firm name of
Bell & Garrett, and several years later the firm name was changed to Garrett
& Elder. Soon after the death of Mr. Bell, in 1885, Mr. Garrett became sole
316 HISTORY OF YUBA AND SUTTER COUNTIES
owner of the business, and in 1895 incorporated the J. R. Garrett Co., with
a capital stock of $200,000 paid up, and he became president of the company.
In August, 1902, the fine, large warehouses of the company burned to the
ground ; but with characteristic energy and progress Mr. Garrett added
60 by 160 feet to the original property of the concern, building up the largest
and best-equipped warehouses in the valley and probably the best in the
State. The partitions are of brick, floors cement, and all doors are abso-
lutely fire-proof. No expense has been spared to make the buildings secure
from fire and pleasant for employes, attention having been paid to sanita-
tion, light and general furnishings. The equipment includes elevators and
electric lights. The largest warehouse measures 160 by 160 feet, another
one is 80 by 100 feet, and the third is 30 by 80 feet. Yet another warehouse,
at the railroad tracks, for storage and forwarding, measures 100 by 50 feet.
It will thus be seen that the storage capacity provided is enormous; yet it
is at times barely adequate for the calls for goods which come in from all
over the country, from Sacramento to Ashland, Ore.
In 1903 Mr. Garrett erected one of the substantial residences in the city,
located between E and F Streets, at a cost of $12,000. His home was pre-
sided over by his wife, formerly Mary E. Bandy, a native of Wisconsin,
who, like himself, underwent the experience of crossing the plains in an
ox-team train. Mr. Garrett was a member of the Marysville Chamber of
Commerce, and in politics was a Republican. He passed away on April
13, 1912. Friends and business associates unite in according praise to this
generous and high-minded merchant, not only for his well-merited success,
but for the many fine personal traits which endeared him to the community.
His position as an employer of labor cannot be overestimated, nor can the
innumerable acts of kindness which he is known to have performed during
his long and dignified career. Personally he was a genial and approachable
man, one of the most public-spirited and generous of Marysville, and he
numbered among his warm friends many of the foremost men in the State.
GEORGE BIHLMAN. — A prom'inent pioneer rancher of Sutter County,
George Bihlman is remembered throughout this section and justly classed
among its representative citizens of the past. He was born June 24, 1826,
in Baden, Germany, where his youth was spent, and where he learned the
tanner's trade. In 1848 he came to Pennsylvania, and ten months later
removed to St. Louis, Mo., where he. worked until 1852. In 1852 he entered
the employ of the government and drove an ox team across the plains to
California. After his arrival he worked for a time in the mines at Dutch
Flat. Not meeting with the success he expected, he came to Sutter County
in 1855, and near Live Oak worked for a time on a ranch, after which he
purchased a squatter's right to 280 acres of unimproved land three miles
west of Live Oak, upon which property he resided until 1875, when he
purchased 480 acres lying one mile south of Live Oak. Later he added
eighty acres to the original purchase, making a place of 560 acres, upon
which he erected good buildings, and upon which he made his home until
his death, which occurred November 12. 1894.
Mr. Bihlman was married here on October 24, 1864, to Mrs. Sophia
(Eberman) Plattner, who was born in Germany, and came to the United
States with her parents when thirteen years of age. For a time the Eber-
man family resided in St. Louis, Mo., afterwards removing -to Fort Madison,
Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. George Bihlman were the parents of six children, four
of whom are deceased, three having died in childhood, and a daughter, Dora
B., at the age of twenty-three years. Those living are Anthony William,
and Mrs. Christina Rothney, both ranchers on the old Bihlman ranch at
Live Oak. Mrs. Bihlman survived her husband until May 8, 1914.
th^n^-J- VD (jhhUAAM^
HISTORY OF YUBA AND SUTTER COUNTIES 319
ANNIE B. MURRAY.— For more than half a century Mrs. Annie B.
Murray has resided in Sutter County, where, in the early days, she endured
many hardships of the pioneer's life. She was born in Chicago, 111., January
7, 1845, a daughter of John and Anna (Robertson) Burnett, both natives
of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, who came to America as a newly married
couple and located twelve miles out of Chicago. There they farmed, in
the days when Indians were still numerous in the forests and on the plains ;
and later Mr. Burnett engaged in the draying and coach business in Chicago.
He died in 1863, at the age of fifty-six years, after a fairly successful busi-
ness career; his wife died at the age of forty-nine years. When Mrs.
Murray was about eight years old, with two younger sisters she returned
to her grandfather's home in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and there, three
miles from Fraserburgh, she was reared to young womanhood. In 1864 she
made a visit to Chicago, but again returned to Scotland, and there lived
until 1868, when she came to San Francisco via the Panama route.
In San Francisco, on May 29, 1868, Miss Burnett was united in marriage
with James Murray, also a native of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where he
was born on August 3, 1841, and was reared to manhood on his father's
farm. He remained in his native land until 1864, when he came to Cali-
fornia. He soon found employment on the ranch of 320 acres, in Sutter
County, which two and a half years later he made his own by purchase.
In 1883 he added by purchase 160 acres, and seven years later a like amount,
making in all a ranch of 640 acres. He was one of the organizers of Murray
school district, named in his honor ; and he gave the site for the schoolhouse
and served as trustee for many years. Mr. and Mrs Murray were the
parents of three sons. William R. is married and has one daughter; and
he and his family reside at San Bernardino, where he has been employed
with the Santa Fe shops for nineteen years. George A. is married and
has one son ; he is an orchardist in Sutter County. James, R. is married
and has four children, and is also an orchardist in Sutter County. In
1910, Mr. Murray purchased a home at Tierra Buena, where he resided
until his death, on March 25, 1922. This property has since been sold,
and Mrs. Murray now divides her time and place of residence, visiting
her sons and their families. Mr. Murray was an elder in the Presby-
terian Church at Marysville, and was a highly esteemed pioneer citizen
of Sutter County. Mrs. Murray is also a member of the Presbyterian
Church, and active in its benevolences. She is now among the few remain-
ing pioneers of this region, whither she came as a bride fifty-six years
ago. Of a pleasing personality, she has a host of warm friends, who appre-
ciate her for her integrity of character and her sterling worth.
J. M. CREMIN. — Among the successful and enterprising business men
of Marysville is J. M. Cremin, who has won an enviable reputation as a news-
paper man throughout Yuba County, where he has long resided. A native
son of the State, he was born in the city of Marysville, February 7, 1867, a
son of pioneer parents. Mr. Cremin began his career as "devil" on the Marys-
ville Democrat years ago; later he became connected with San Francisco
newspapers, notably the San Francisco Call, of which he was circulation
manager for years. During the administration of Governor Stephens, Mr.
Cremin was State Printer. Afterward he was appointed to the State Rec-
lamation Board, from which, however, he later resigned. Mr. Cremin was
connected with the old Sacramento Union for some time. Later he spent
several years as State Statistician in the office of Secretary of State Jordan.
After his resignation as a member of the State Reclamation Board, Mr.
Cremin purchased the Marysville Appeal, of which he is now owner and
320 HISTORY OF YUBA AND SUTTER COUNTIES
editor. Mr. Cremin has been a property-owner and taxpayer of Yuba County
practically all his life. He is intensely interested in its growth and develop-
ment, and with true optimism sees for this region a prosperous future. He
owns and operates a fine fruit and dairy ranch in the Bear River Garden
section of this county. Mr. Cremin is a man of progressive spirit and un-
faltering perseverance and his wide acquaintance and helpful influence in
this part of the State are of great value to the community where he has
resided for so many years.
GEORGE OHLEYER, SR.— Those who knew George Ohleyer, Sr.
— and he had a wide acquaintance throughout California — esteemed him
very highly, and his genuine worth was attested by all with whom he came
in contact. He was not only well known as an agriculturist and horticul-
turist, but was the organizer of the first warehouse business in Sutter
County; and his activities against hydraulic mining were productive of
much good to the county.
Born in Alsace-Lorraine, France, in October, 1830, he came to Ohio
with his parents when five years old, and as early as 1852 came across the
plains to California and engaged in mining in Sierra, Plumas and Yuba
Counties. In 1855 he returned to Ohio, and on September 25 of that year
was married to Miss Ellen Guthrie, a daughter of Joseph and Nancy (Tur-
butt) Guthrie, natives of Scotland and Pennsylvania, respectively. The
following year Mr. Ohleyer and his wife came to California via Panama
to San Francisco; and from there they went by river-boat to Sacramento,
thence by stage to Marysville, and from there to the Oregon House in the
Yuba foot-hills, where Mr. Ohleyer was in business. During the harvest
season of 1859, he engaged in contract threshing northeast of Marysville ;
and during the winter of 1859 and 1860 he located on a ranch on the Yuba
River, where he took up fruit culture, being thus occupied for about six
years. He lost heavily in the flood of 1862, which devasted the country.
In 1865 Mr. Ohleyer located in Sutter County, where he purchased land
three miles west of Yuba City, the property consisting of a quarter-section
of government land. In 1878 he built a fine home on the ranch, where he
resided till his death. He added to the original purchase until in 1895
he owned 960 acres of choice valley land. He gave liberally of his time
and means for the advancement of his locality, and during the agitation
against hydraulic mining made five trips to Washington, D. C, in the
interests of the valley. He was a member of the State legislature and of
the constitutional convention of 1879, and served as a supervisor of Sutter
County for several years. He was the organizer and president of a stock
company which bought the Sutter County Banner, changing the name to
the Sutter Farmer, of which he was also the editor. He was also one of
the organizers of the Farmers' Cooperative Union of Yuba City, of which
he was president for many years ; and it was during this time that the
company began the banking business that has now grown into the First
National Bank of Sutter County. An active member of the State Grange,
Mr. Ohleyer contributed through its activities to the advancement and
progress of the county. He passed away on August 14, 1896, mourned by
a host of friends, for he was kind and generous to all with whom he came
in -contact. Mrs. Ohleyer still resides on a portion of the old home place,
which consists of seventy-three acres, the rest of the tract having been
sold off. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ohleyer : Mrs. Annie
Hausinger, of Yuba City ; Frank, a rancher here ; Mrs. Mary Frick, of San
Francisco ; George and Fred, both ranching near the old home ; Lewis, in
San Francisco; and Ada E., who resides with her mother.
HISTORY OF YUBA AND SUTTER COUNTIES 321
HENRY BEST. — Significant of the opportunities offered by the com-
monwealth of California was the success achieved by Henry Best, who
arrived in Sutter County without a dollar and with a sick wife to care for,
and who, in spite of discouraging environment and domestic anxiet)^,
worked his way forward to a position of influence among the farmers of
his locality. By the gradual acquisition of land he was able to give each
of his ten children 160 acres as a heritage, retaining a homestead of like
size situated nine miles southwest of Yuba City, provided with the improve-
ments that mark a modern country place, where he resided until his death.
Henry Best was born on February 25, 1832, in Tuscarawas County, Ohio,
being a son of John G. Best, whose birth occurred in Pennsylvania about
1790. It is supposed that the paternal grandparents were natives of
Germany, and according to family tradition the grandfather served in the
War of 1812. When only a boy, John G. Best was in the service of the
army in Ohio as a hunter. Later he took up farm work and remained in
Ohio until about 1837, when he removed to Missouri and took up govern-
ment land in Crawford County. Later he put up a mill on Bourbon Creek
and sawed the lumber used in building the houses of the pioneers of that
locality, and cherry lumber used in the manufacture of coffins. Afterward
he had a small tannery, where he tanned the leather and made the shoes
for all the members of his family. After eight years in that county he
moved to Iowa and settled on the Des Moines River on an Indian reserva-
tion, securing a decree title to his land, but later was obliged to buy the
title. In course of time he acquired the ownership of 400 or more acres,
and there he engaged in farming and stock-raising until his death, at sixty-
five years of age. Before leaving Ohio he married Tracy Burrell, of East-
ern birth, and who died in that State at thirty years of age, leaving four sons.
The youngest of the four sons, Henry Best, was five years of age when
his father settled in Missouri and about thirteen when the family located
in Iowa, where he remained on the home farm until he attained his majority.
Starting out for himself, he worked as a farm hand for nine dollars per
month, and a year later rented land. As he had but one horse and could
not undertake farming with an equipment so meager, he traded the animal
for a yoke of oxen, which he used on the plow. At the expiration of his
first year as a renter he traded the oxen and also paid $100 to secure the
title to an eighty-acre tract. Lacking fifteen dollars of having enough to
complete the payment, he worked in the timber until he had earned the
required amount. The next season he rented the land for one-third of the
crops, while he engaged to work as a farm hand. After a year he and a
brother took up the cultivation of his place, which he sold during the course
of the year for $700. Immediately afterward he bought another tract, but
not having any crops he lost the land through inability to meet payments.
In other respects also he met with reverses ; and finally, in 1862, he disposed
of all he owned excepting three horses and a wagon. With these he
brought his family overland to California, arriving in Yuba City in the
fall of the year. Selling one of his horses, he secured means sufficient to
defray expenses until he found employment. During the winter he chopped
wood and husked corn; and the following year a Mr. Stevens furnished
a plow and allowed him to put in forty acres of wheat on rented land, the
crop gained being so large that he was greatly encouraged. In 1864 he
rented seventy acres on the bottom near Yuba City, where he raised a crop
that netted him $1200. With the money thus earned Mr. Best bought a
squatter's claim to 160 acres of raw land, whose only building was a rude
shanty. Forty acres were sown to wheat, which brought forty sacks to
the acre. As soon as possible he filed a homestead claim on his place,
322 HISTORY OF YUBA AND SUTTER COUNTIES
and later received title to the property. With a stanch faith in the future
of this country, he bought land as he was able whenever it came into
market, provided it was located near enough to his home place to be worked
therewith. At one time he borrowed $23,000 with which to buy land, a
venture that would daunt many, but which he carried through, with faith
in the future and in the increased valuation of property. For some of the
land he paid as much as eighty dollars per acre, but other tracts of course
w r ere secured at a much smaller price. Eventually he acquired about 2000
acres of land in one locality ; but, as previously stated, by giving to his
children a quarter section each; he reduced his own possessions to 160 acres.
The marriage of Mr. Best occurred in Missouri in 1856 and united
him with Miss Luvina McPherson, a native of the same part, of Ohio as
himself. They were the parents of the following children : Alice, wife of
William Stoker; Alvin ; Samuel; Amanda, Mrs. Augustus Case; Charles;
Fannie, who married George Stoker ; Lee Valentine ; William H. ; Clara
Belle, wife of Louis Case; and Andrew, all of whom have substantial homes
in this neighborhood. In national affairs Mr. Best always voted the Repub-
lican ticket. Fraternally, he was connected with Yuba City Lodge No. 70,
F. & A. M., and for more than thirty-seven years was affiliated with Yuba
City Lodge No. 185, I. O. O. F. ; he had previously joined the Oriental
Lodge in Marysville, but a few years later was demitted in order to aid in
establishing the lodge at Yuba City. At the inception of the Farmers'
Union Bank he became one of its first stockholders, starting with eight
shares of stock; in 1905 he purchased nine additional shares, and from 1900
to the day of his death he officiated as a director of the institution. He
died on April 26, 1920; his wife had passed away one year before, to a day.
CAPT. THOMAS DEAN.— Born in Virginia, December 17. 1831, Capt.
Thomas Dean spent most of his boyhood days on the Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers. In 1849 he crossed the plains with an ox team, being four months
on the road, and located in the mining towns of Hangtown and Drytown.
In the fall of 1850 he came to Marysville and conducted a livery stable for a
while, later moving to Sutter County and locating at the place now owned
by his son, Edward Dean, where he engaged in the dairy business. He
served as lieutenant in the 1st California Cavalry, at first known as the
Butte Mountain Rangers, during the Civil War, and also served as captain
of the Home Guards of Sutter County ; and ever after that he was known as
Captain Dean. He was a prominent member of the Grand Army of the
Republic, and also of the Pioneer Society. Captain Dean was the leader
of the company organized in Sutter County during the Civil War, and led his
company in the memorable climb up South Butte, upon whose summit they
planted an immense flag-pole, a part of which is still in existence. An ac-
count of the planting of this flagstaff, and of the accompanying flag-raising,
is given in the sketch of his son-in-law, E. A. Noyes, which will be found else-
where in this volume.
Thomas Dean was married in 1853 to Miss Hannah Hyndman, of Jeffer-
son County, Ohio. Nine children resulted from this fortunate union, namely :
Isabella, the wife of E. A. Noyes; Ella, now Mrs. J. K. Prime, who lives re-
tired at Sites, in Colusa County; Ann, the wife of J. D. Stewart, a farmer
near Live Oak ; Thomas, who became a farmer at Sutter and who died at
the age of fifty-four, leaving a widow and two sons, Ray and Earl ; Mary,
who died unmarried at about twenty-two years of age ; Lizzie, who is now
the widow of F. W. Strang, and resides in Oakland ; Edward, whose biog-
raphy also appears elsewhere in this work ; Laura, who died at the age of
if^zJ^^l^
HISTORY OF YUBA AND SUTTER COUNTIES 325
fourteen, in 1884; and Gertrude, the baby, who died in 1878, being then three
years of age.
Captain Dean was a strong abolitionist and Republican, and was a great
admirer of Lincoln ; and although a Virginian, he was a stanch supporter
of the Emancipation Proclamation. Ardently patriotic, and an excellent
horseman, he always kept young saddle-horses in training for cavalry serv-
ice, and even in the last years of his life was ever ready to join the cavalry,
should his country again need his services. He died at his home farm at
Sutter, July 9, 1905, being then past seventy-three years old. He was sur-
vived by his wife, who passed away in 1915 at the age of eighty-four. Their
names occupy a worthy place in the annals of the pioneer history of Sutter
County.
A. WALTER LEWIS. — Among the outstanding business men of Marys-
ville is A. Walter Lewis, the president and general manager of the J. R.
Garrett Company. He was born at Marysville, April 26, 1877, a son of Abram
Wallace and Emma (Garrett) Lewis. A. W. Lewis crossed the plains to
California in 1863 accompanied by his family ; he settled in Yuba County
and engaged in delivering water from the mountain springs to the residents
of Marysville. At the outbreak of the Civil War he joined Company C, 6th
California Infantry, and was sent to Arizona. In 1865 he returned to Cali-
fornia, where he was discharged ; and here he took up the barber's trade,
which he followed throughout the remainder of his life. He is survived by
his widow, who is now living in Pasadena, Cal.
A. Walter Lewis finished the grammar school courses in Marysville and
spent two years in the Marysville High School ; during vacations he worked
for the J. R. Garrett Co., beginning in a minor position and working up
through the different departments. As early as 1901 he became a stockholder
and was elected a director in the company. On the resignation of Harold
Comforth as secretary in 1909, A. AValter Lewis was elected secretary in his
stead ; and after the death of J. R. Garrett in 1912, Mr. Lewis assumed the
manag-ement of the business for Mrs. J. R. Garrett, who had become president
of the company. When Mrs. Garrett passed on in 1918, Mr. Lewis was
elected president and manager of the company. He gives his time and atten-
tion to the duties and details of this position, which he is filling with his
usual ability.
This company is one of the oldest and largest wholesale grocery estab-
lishments in the Sacramento Valley. It has a very large trade, extending into
the mountain counties and into the State of Nevada, and from Sacramento
on the south to Ashland and Klamath, Ore., on the north. Lately they have
added another concrete warehouse to their already large capacity, and also
erected a bean-cleaning plant, their combined floor-space capacity now reach-
ing approximately 66,000 square feet. The company had been incorporated
by Mr. J. R. Garrett in 1895 with a capital stock of $200,000, which sufficed
until July, 1909, when the capital was increased to $550,000; and it has
continued at this figure till the present time, although there is now a surplus
of $150,000.
Aside from the management of this large company, Mr. Lewis is also
interested in ranching and horticulture in both Yuba and Sutter Counties.
The marriage of Mr. Lewis united him with Miss Maud Martin, born
in Nebraska but reared in Marysville. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are the parents
of four children: Lorene ; Elizabeth and Alice, twins: and Mildred. In poli-
tics, Mr. Lewis is a stanch Republican. Fraternally, he is a member of
Corinthian Lodge, No. 9, F. & A. M., in which he is a Past Master; Wash-
ington Chapter, No. 13, R. A. M. ; Marysville Council. Royal and Select
326 HISTORY OF YUBA AND SUTTER COUNTIES
Masters ; and Marysville Commandery, No. 7, K. T., in which he is Past
Commander. He is also a member of Sacramento Lodge of Perfection; a
charter member of Ben Ali Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; a Past
Patron of the Order of the Eastern Star ; and a trustee in the Masonic Hall
Association. He is a Past Exalted Ruler of Marysville Lodge, No. 783,
B. P. O. E. ; a Past President of Marysville Parlor, No. 6, N. S. G. W. ; and a
member of the Woodmen of the World and of Oriental Lodge, I. O. O. F.
He was the first president of the Marysville Rotary Club, and is a director in
the Chamber of Commerce and also of the First National Bank of Marysville.
Mr. Lewis takes a decided interest in educational matters and serves as trus-
tee of the Marysville union high school and the grammar school. He is fond
of all healthy sports, especially fishing and baseball. During the World War,
Mr. Lewis served as chairman of the Red Cross, Yuba-Sutter Chapter.
ALEXANDER FRANKLIN ABBOTT.— The name of Alexander
Franklin Abbott is inseparably associated with the development of California's
great fruit-growing industry ; and in his passing, Sutter County lost one of
its most honored pioneers and most effectual builders. His life-history is
proof of the fact that it is under the pressure of necessity that the best and
the strongest in an individual are developed, for he came to the State a poor
boy, and rose to an enviable position of leadership as a horticulturist, winning
success in the highest sense of the word.
Alexander Franklin Abbott was a native of the East, having been born at
Busti, near Jamestown, Chautauqua County, N. Y., on August 1, 1829. His
father, Harry Abbott, was born in Rome, Oneida County, in 1800; and as a
youth, he served in the latter part of the War of 1812. He became a promi-
nent educator in New r York, and made his residence at Kennedyville until his
death, in 1876. Grandfather Abbott was named Nathan. The Abbott family
traced its ancestry back to the Puritans, through members who served with
honor in the Colonial and Revolutionary AVars. Harry Abbott married Louisa
Bostwick of New York, whose mother, named Evans before her marriage,
was of Scotch descent, and was related to a prominent New York family.
Alexander Abbott received a good education in the schools of New York-
State, and followed farming there until 1852. Then, when twenty-three years
of age, he made the venturesome journey to California, coming by the Isth-
mus of Panama route. His financial resources were extremely limited, but he
possessed the valuable assets of ambition, energy and perseverance, and with
these he worked and won. He found employment in Marysville, and later
made his way to Redwood City, and in San Mateo County he engaged in
farming and stock-raising. In 1858 he purchased from General Sutter a tract
of 610 acres of land on the Feather River, near Star Bend, in Sutter County,
thus becoming owner of a portion of Hock Farm, in the New Helvetia grant.
On that ranch he built a two-story house, a part of which was constructed of
lumber brought around Cape Horn in a sailing vessel ; and a part of the old
home is still standing, being one of the oldest landmarks in Sutter County.
In 1881 Mr. Abbott planted some peach-pits, and two years later he set
out about sixty acres to fruit trees. From three-year-old trees he gathered
200 tons of fruit ; and later he planted more trees, until he had 425 acres of
orchard, thus becoming owner of what was at that time the largest peach
orchard in the world. The Phillips cling-stone peach was originated in this
orchard by Joseph Phillips, who was employed as a nurseryman by Mr. Ab-
bott; and in consequence the Abbott orchards became still more famous
throughout the country.
With notable foresight, Mr. Abbott was able to perceive the great possi-
bilities of the fruit industry, and he established a packing-house and a drying-
HISTORY OF YUBA AND SUTTER COUNTIES 331
plant upon his ranch, conducting his operations upon a very extensive scale,
and shipping to the East fresh and dried fruit in carload lots from a Southern
Pacific Railroad spur at Abbott Station. He also raised olives and all varieties
of deciduous fruits, and his exhibit at the State Fair, 1894, was awarded a
gold medal, the first gold award given for the most meritorious displav of
horticultural products. Mr. Abbott was a man of vision, far in advance of
the times, and his opinion on matters pertaining to horticultural science was
regarded as authoritative. He acquired large landholdings in Yuba County,
which are also still in the possession of his family. Mr. Abbott was also in-
terested in the Marysville canneries, and his highly intelligent and forceful
cooperation was a potent factor in that undertaking.
In 1858, Mr. Abbott married Mrs. Mary Elizabeth (Twaite) Spinks, a
native of London, England, who came to California in 1850. The union
proved a happy one, and was blessed with the birth of three children, only
one of whom, however, survived. This is their daughter, California E., now
the widow of the late John Hale, a well-educated and cultured gentleman,
born at Winchendon, near Boston, Mass., who after coming to the Pacific
Coast, was a prominent railroad contractor of San Francisco and Portland,
Ore. They had three children : Mary Elizabeth, John Franklin, and Calla
Abbott. Mrs. Hale and her family are exerting a healthful influence for high
ideals and good citizenship, thus carrying out old family traditions ; and they
are also active in developing the natural resources of the country, being; en-
gaged in horticulture and farming, and taking a prominent part in the civic
and social affairs of the county. Mrs. Hale is a charter member of the
Woman's Improvement Club, and the Marysville Art Club, and with her
daughters she is a member of the Eastern Star. The daughters are also mem-
bers of both clubs, Miss Mary Elizabeth having been the first corresponding
secretary of the Marysville Art Club, as well as active in the Woman's Im-
provement Club. She was also chairman of the Canteen of the Yuba-Sutter
Chapter of the American Red Cross during the World War, while Miss Calla's
activity in the Motor Corps, particularly in the shipment of clothing to Bel-
gium, France and Rumania, was appreciated to the extent that she was com-
missioned a captain. John Franklin Hale was a member of the Coast Artil-
lery, and was stationed at Fort Rosecrans, and he is now looking after his
mother's orchards. He is a Knight Templar Mason and a Shriner. Mrs.
Hale has many valuable relics of the early days, including an autograph of
General Sutter, and a facsimile of his cattle-brand.
Alexander Franklin Abbott was a prominent and influential man in vari-
ous walks of life. In his religious views, he was a Baptist ; and politically
he was a stanch Republican, and was influential within his party. In local
public affairs, he took a deep and helpful interest. He did much to aid the
building of the levee in District No. 1, of Sutter County, and he also served
on the board of directors of the State Agricultural Society. He was a mem-
ber of the Masonic order, and belonged to Corinthian Dodge, No. 9, F. & A.
M. ; he adhered closely to the beneficent teachings of that organization, and
he was buried with Masonic honors. He reached the ripe old age of seventy-
five years, his demise occurring on March 11, 1905. Born to look the world
straight in the eye, unafraid of men or of conditions, he marched at the front
in that hardy band of pioneers who prepared the way for the oncoming gen-
erations and by their labors made possible the marvelous development of the
present day ; and in so doing, he exemplified in his character all that is most
admirable and desirable in citizenship, and left to his family the priceless
heritage of an untarnished name. His esteemed widow, beloved by a large
circle of devoted friends, survived him until March 9, 1914, when she was
called to her final rest, at the fine old age of eighty-seven. She was a member
332 HISTORY OF YUBA AND SUTTER COUNTIES
of the Episcopal Church, and belonged also to the Eastern Star. She was a
woman of wonderful initiative and unusual capabilities, and the community at
large held her in enviable memory. It will be many a year before the pleas-
ant traditions and helpful influence of this exceptionally worthy pioneer
couple fade from the annals of the county and the State, for whose broad and
permanent development they exerted themselves so energetically, continu-
ously and successfully, thereby setting an inspiring example to the younger
and the future generations.
MISS EVA M. BRADLEY. — For a woman to achieve success in the
world of business these past ten or fifteen years, does not create much com-
ment; but when we go back another decade or two and there find a woman
who has pioneered in establishing herself firmly in the marts of trade, we
cannot in justice withhold the recognition due to one who has helped to
pave the way for her sisters and incidentally won her own way to unusual
success. Such a woman is Miss Eva M. Bradley, founder of Bradley, Inc.,
Dry Goods, of Marysville. Born in Westfield, Monroe Count}', N. Y., she
joined her father, Isaac Bradley, here, who came to Marysville in 1883. Her
ancle, Samuel H. Bradley, had crossed the plains in an ox-team train in the
pioneer gold days of 1849. He served as supervisor of Yuba County for a
term in the early days. Isaac Bradley, on his arrival here, became associ-
ated with his brother in operating a wagon and carriage shop. He was a
councilman of Marysville for one term. His demise occurred about twenty
years ago. His wife was Miss Frances Cooper, of Cooperstown, N. Y.
Cooperstown was named for the Cooper family. J. Fennimore Cooper,
author of the Leather Stocking series, who by his description of its natural
scenery made the region of central New York famous, was a member of
the same family.
Eva Bradley was reared and educated at Dansville, Livingston County,
N. Y., completing her education at Dansville Seminary, where she was
graduated in 1884. She then came immediately to Marysville, whither her
father had preceded her in 1883. Miss Bradley first entered into business
in Marysville as a clerk in the office of Edward Weilander, who conducted
a dry-goods store in this city ; after one day in the office, however, she
became saleslady, through her ability to please one of Mr. Weilander's new
customers. She started at a salary of ten dollars per week, and this was
raised five times during her first year. This was in the day before women
were employed as clerks in the stores, and she was the first one so employed
in Marysville. Some twenty-one years ago, with Mr. H. A. Bruce as a
partner, Miss Bradley bought out the AVeilander store. Six years later, she
sold her interest to her partner and started a new dry-goods store for
herself in the Casey Block, at corner of Fifth and D Streets. This was con-
sidered out of the business district at that time, and hers was the first store
in that block; and predictions were freely made that the business would
not pay "up there." But it did, and Miss Bradley made a success of it from
the start. The floor space was small then, 40 by 60 feet; but the next year
thirty feet were added, and later forty more. She installed a fine modern
plate-glass front in the new store, the first of its kind in Marysville, designed
by a San Francisco architect, for she was determined to have an establish-
ment in which the entire community could take pride. She took two trips
yearly to the Eastern markets for new goods and ideas, and was the only
local dry-goods merchant to do so at that time. She also installed a modern
carrier system in the store ; and today this thoroughly modern high-class
store stands as a monument to one woman's initiative, energy and persever-
ing enterprise. Always held in high esteem as an employer, Miss Bradley,
HISTORY OF YUBA AND SUTTER COUNTIES 333
on disposing of her establishment, in October, 1921, was given a banquet
by the employees of the store.
In civic and social matters, Miss Bradley has always been prominent.
She is a charter member of the Marysville Art Club and of the Ladies'
Improvement Club of Marysville ; while her patriotic spirit has led her to
belong to the Woman's National League for Service Club, of San Francisco.
She was also a charter member, as well as the first woman member, of the
Marysville Chamber of Commerce. Politically a Democrat, she was elected
and served two years as chairman of the Democratic Central Committee
of Yuba County, being the first woman to hold that office in California.
JAMES BRYDEN. — Although more than thirty years have elapsed
since the death of James Bryden, his memory still lives in the hearts of
those who knew him, for he was one of those hardy pioneers who bravely
faced the hardships and dangers of the unknown West and by their own
labor evolved, out of a trackless wilderness and vast forests, the fertile
land and well-developed farms that have made this State one of the greatest
agricultural sections in America. His name is inseparably associated with
the history of the development of Yuba and Butte Counties, in which his
operations were conducted ; and the Bryden Ranch, one of the finest in the
State, has been in possession of the family for more than seventy years.
Mr. Bryden was a native of Ohio, but later removed to Monticello, 111.,
and in February, 1850, while yet a young man, started across the plains,
traveling with ox teams and wagons. They were six months in making the
journey, which was a long and hazardous one, and in the fall of 1850 they
arrived in California. For two years Mr. Bryden worked in the mines at
Downieville, winning success in his search for gold ; and in 1852 he invested
his capital in land, purchasing a large tract on Honcut Creek in Yuba and
Butte Counties. He was at first associated with a partner; and in 1852
they planted the first grain sown in N or thern California. Their first crop
was harvested by the Indians, and much of it was stolen; but the experiment
proved that the soil of this section was well adapted to the growing of grain,
and many settlers afterward followed their example. Subsequently Mr.
Bryden bought out his partner and became sole owner of the ranch, which
he brought to a high state of development, erecting thereon substantial
buildings and converting it into one of the most desirable farms in the State.
He worked diligently and persistently, and equipped his place with all of
the newest devices in farm machinery. He conducted his labors system-
atically and scientifically and set the standards of farming in his section,
becoming recognized as an authority on agricultural matters. The ranch
comprised 3400 acres, all in one body, and since his death land has been
added until there are about 5000 acres. The place is now being operated
by Charles Bryden, a grandson of the subject of this sketch. Large numbers
of sheep and cattle graze on a portion of the land, while the remainder
is used for the growing of crops, and for three generations the ranch has
been owned and cultivated by members of the Bryden family.
In Marysville, on November 30, 1865, Mr. Bryden married Miss Mary
J. Sadorus, who survives him and is now residing in Marysville. She is a
native of Illinois, born near Champaign, a daughter of A. M. and Margaret
(Hamilton) Sadorus, who crossed the plains to California in 1850 and were
pioneers of Butte County, where Mrs. Bryden was reared and educated.
To Mr. and Mrs. James Bryden we 